Philharmonic showcases Letourneau, $3 million Stradivarius

Marilyn LaRocque

Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

When concertmaster De Ann Letourneau plays the Violin Concerto in D-minor, op. 47, by Jan Sibelius, with the Las Vegas Philharmonic on Saturday, she'll be performing on a $3.5-million 1713 Stradivarius, the "Wirth," borrowed from Bein and Fushi of Chicago.

"Stunning Romantics" of the late- 19th and early 20th centuries are the theme for the concert under the baton of Las Vegas Philharmonic Music Director Harold Weller.

The other two works featured on the 8 p.m. program at Artemus Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas are the familiar "Swan Lake Ballet Suite" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Symphony No. 3 in C-minor, "Organ," op. 78, by Camille Saint-Saens.

Weller ranks the Sibelius violin concerto among those of Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

"It's more intricate than any of them," he said, "and it's very demanding on the instrument and soloist. There's more interplay between the orchestra and soloist than in the others. I've wanted to program the Sibelius for some time," he added, "and it's one of De Ann's favorites. After her wonderful performance of the 'Tzigane' by Ravel last year, and the immediate, rousing standing ovation she received, there was no doubt she was my choice."

Letourneau flew to Chicago to pick up the violin. Despite jet lag and exhaustion from the overnight trip, she started playing it as soon as she returned.

"I couldn't put it down it was so much fun," she said.

Explaining the difference the quality of an instrument makes, Letourneau remarked, "Tiger Woods wouldn't be a champion golfer if he were hitting rocks with a stick. Mario Andretti wouldn't win races in a Yugo. Even incredible violinists would not sound like they sound if they played my regular violin. Equipment counts."

"The acoustics of the Strad are so perfect," she continued. "Everything is all there, the power, the clarity. Every note is so clean. The sound is immediate, very beautiful, so rich and deep."

The "Wirth" is from Stradivarius' "golden period," when all his experimenting culminated in his finest instruments.

"His earlier instruments had shorter bodies, less power," Letourneau said. "With what's called the 'long pattern' Strads, he finally arrived at the perfect instrument, which became the pattern for all that followed, even for other violin makers. The sound is almost overpowering. It hits the back of the hall with laserlike precision. You can also play as softly as you want and still produce beautiful sounds. Josh Bell, who played the violin solos in the movie 'The Red Violin,' owns the twin to the 'Wirth', the 'Gibson, Huberman.' " (Stradivarius always made an identical pair of instruments.)

The violin is only part of the story. Letourneau has also borrowed a fine French bow, valued around $150,000, for the concert.

"The wood of the bow, how it's cut and how much camber (bend) it has affects the sound it pulls out of the instrument," she said. "It makes a huge difference in how it vibrates with the wood of the violin."

What is it like to leave the concertmaster's chair for the soloist spotlight?

"You have lots of different emotons when you're playing with your friends," Letourneau said. "They're all rooting for you and want you to do a good job. You can joke around to relieve some tension, but you're also under pressure because you want to play well and not let them down. And your students are in the audience, so you have to do what you teach them in lessons."

Letourneau finds the role of soloist exhilarating.

"Where else can you take a group of people, the audience, on an emotional journey for 30 minutes?" she asked. "That's why I do it. It's so much fun to see an audience enjoy the whole musical experience."

Planning ahead, Letourneau brought home a couple of other violins, not Strads, to try out.

"My present fiddle is not cutting it for what I want to do, not allowing me to play at the level at which I want to play. Of course," she said,, "my ultimate goal is to own a Strad."