Snopes: Claim: Violinist Joshua Bell played incognito in a Washington subway.  TRUE.

Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post won the Pulitzer for his role in setting up and writing about that stunt.  I highly recommend you read his article: Pearls Before Breakfast.  It’s probably the best newspaper story I’ve ever read.  It’s so good that I review it again every few months.  The video is here. Watching the woman stop – transfixed - from 1:36 may be as beautiful and magical as anything I’ve ever seen.  Something about that scene accurately captures a specific feeling.

Claim: Violinist Joshua Bell performed less-than-incognito on Saturday with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  TRUE.

I admit to not being a particularly big follower of orchestra or violin music and I admit that I didn’t know anything about Joshua Bell before I read that 2007 Post article.  But even before I heard him perform, I was a fan.  The guy is just cool.  I jumped at the chance to go.

Claim: Violinist Joshua Bell is terrible in live performances.  FALSE.

Bell did not disappoint.  I think the ASO flipped the program from how it was printed.  So first he covered Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E minor for Violin & Orchestra (1845).  I didn’t know anything about this piece, but Wikipedia says it is “regarded as one of the greatest violin concertos of all time . . . remains popular and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master.”  This might be a YouTube link to that piece in another venue.  He also performed Ravel’s Tzigane (1924).  And there was an encore which I think was by Vieuxtemps (Variations on Yankee Doodle).  You can watch Bell perform it in another venue at this link.  The symphony orchestra also performed two pieces without Bell: Mendelssohn’s Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) (1830) and Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C major (1855).

Claim: Bizet wrote this symphony at age 17.  TRUE.

Claim: Reading stuff like that makes me feel like I’ve wasted my life.  TRUE.

This may be a taboo question, but I wonder what responses I’d get if I asked other violinists what makes Joshua Bell so good?  Or what makes him better than any other violinist who was on stage?  By asking this question, I’m not trying to categorize or establish a pecking order.  I really would love an empirical answer as to why Joshua Bell is so good.  I don’t have the same insight that another violinist might have.  Is it technique?  Is he doing anything different?  More artistry?  Good looks?  Raw charisma?  Presentation and framing?  His Stradivarius?

Claim: That hunk of wood and strings is worth more than I’ll ever be worth in my lifetime all put together.  PROBABLY TRUE.

Because I write, I have at least some insight about what makes someone like Shakespeare better than me.  His use of the language is richer for sure.  His word combinations can be brilliant.  He understands human nature and illuminates it in a way that I cannot.  His fictional characters are often more alive than real people I know.  But still that’s not quite it, is it?  When I read Shakespeare, he’s just got that certain something that makes it good and enjoyable.  And it’s something that I have difficulty expressing in words.  It’s how he makes you feel.

Claim: It can be a physical and sensual experience to listen to music.  TRUE.

Lovers of classical music will talk about beauty.  And how fine art will appeal to higher senses.  But I’m a rock n roll guy.  I like a beat.  I want to feel the whatever-it-is that makes your hips move.  It’s at its best when you’re overwhelmed by the pulse and the rhythm.  I rarely anticipate that instrumental music might be the same kind of absorbing.  I don’t want music to be intellectual or mathy or heady – I’m attracted to the raw and visceral.  Great art sweats.

After Saturday, though, I’m convinced of two things.  First, listening to symphony music through speakers is to being there in person like eating a hot dog is to petting a pig.

Claim: WBHM : ASO :: Eating Frank : Petting Wilbur.  TRUE.

Second, and very importantly, I realized that this kind of music can trigger just as much of a physical response as a good vocal, guitar, bass, and drums.  Not emotional.  Physical.  It’s just that its a different response.   Much more delicate.  There were moments – even individual notes – where I realized I was holding my breath.  Like when you’re anticipating a shared first kiss, but pull up just short.  There were moments of elevation – I don’t have another word – where I tensed.  Like a light touch on your stomach from someone completely new.  At other moments, I almost couldn’t help but quietly give an audible sigh (ohh) at being held.

Claim: There were whole rows of empty seats available at the Alys Stephens Center for this performance.  TRUE.

This was an outstanding performance.  More people should have seen it.  It borders on criminal that there were empty rows.  If a group like the ASO puts together a good product, someone should make sure people are there to appreciate it.  It looks miserly or wasteful not to put warm bodies in those seats.

Should our local media outlets do a better job at promoting shows that are likely to be unique or amazing?  Should the ASO brainstorm more ways to spread the word?  Should Birmingham have more appreciation for this kind of event?  Should tickets be available for something less than $50?  Could the ASO have given extra tickets to schools or teachers or nonprofits or other deserving groups?  Could a small number of tickets (the four back balcony rows?) be reserved and available ten minutes before performances to anyone under 30 at half-price, first-come first-serve?  Should organizations understand that it doesn’t cost anything to give unused tickets away if you’ve already paid to put on the show?  Would that be a good way to build repeat business and invest in public relations?

Thanks to Curtis Long, Marie Sutton, Monica Dent and the rest of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra for offering me a ticket.