Joshua Bell & Larisa Martínez: Voice & the Violin

When superstar violinist Joshua Bell and operatic soprano Larisa Martínez tied the knot in 2019, they had no idea about the future that awaited them. They barely had time to pause their busy careers.

“We got married (just) before the pandemic,” Martínez said in an interview with violinist.com. Four days after the wedding, she made her Carnegie Hall debut, then launched a major tour. “We never really had a honeymoon at all,” Bell said.

Then, suddenly, the pandemic brought an end to concertizing and touring. But the resulting period of isolation contained a silver lining for Bell and Martínez.

The couple had talked about performing together, but they’d made no concrete plans. “Then during the pandemic, that was just a great opportunity to develop it, find some repertoire, have some things arranged for us,” Bell said. “So that is what became the project we call ‘Voice and the Violin,’ which we’ve taken to various places.”

“I’m always amazed about how many similarities there are between voice and violin, as I discover the violin more and more,” Martínez said.

The couple worked together to emphasize those affinities. Martínez experimented with her “resonators”–the air-filled cavities of the throat, mouth, and nasal cavity that amplify and modify sound waves. Resonators enhance some frequencies while dampening others. Bell modified his sound to blend more seamlessly with Martínez, making small adjustments to the bridge of his violin and even the chin rest.

“When I talk about my violin sounding well or not sounding well, it’s so similar to the things that are going on in her body, in the voice,” Bell told violin.com. “And when she talks about going to a coach, and the ways she’s adjusting her voice to get different kinds of overtones, it reminds me so much of how we violinists think about using the bow, placing the bow towards the bridge, etc.”

Bell and Martínez also had to contend with violinists’ and vocalists’ contrasting approaches to concert preparation. “A violinist can kind of cram the night before; you can practice five hours and work on what you need to do,” Bell said. “With the voice, you have to avoid that and plan everything in advance. You can’t rehearse on the same day as the performance the same way a violinist can.”

“I only have one set of vocal chords,” Martínez added. “I have to take care of those, because they are my only ones!”

Singers also must deal with non-musical elements as well, Martínez pointed out. “Diction, the words, the acting, … usually I’m telling a story. But you guys can play just so many more notes – it’s incredible, the fireworks you can do with the violin.”

The couple have also discovered that their performances share certain surprising qualities, too. While breathing is obviously a crucial part of the singer’s art, Bell pointed out that string players and even conductors have to think about breathing as well. (Bell has served as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields since 2011. He conducts the musicians from the concertmaster’s chair. It’s positioned slightly higher so he can be seen.)

“Breathing is so important in all music making, even if you’re a conductor. How you breathe in front of the orchestra is very, very important. So, working with a singer is always enlightening.”

The 13 works on the Voice & the Violin program represent an intriguing panoply of styles and historical periods: Mozart, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Massenet, Johann Strauss, Delibes, and Chopin. There’s even a little musical theater: the West Side Story Suite.

Bell and Martínez will perform with Music Director Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m.

You can listen to them together below.