Renowned Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman comes to the University of Florida

Itzhak Perlman performing on stage at the
Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on
Saturday, March 13th, 2017.

My fangirling has not yet subsided, so please excuse my overbearing excitement in writing this post. I had that absolute pleasure of watching Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman perform in concert once again this past Saturday night. Perlman came to perform a solo concert at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Gainesville, Florida, with the illustrious piano accompanist Rohan de Silva. And I must say, this duo is nearly unstoppable; their talent is so overwhelming, it is an honor just to be able to watch them perform on stage.

Over five years ago, I saw Itzhak Perlman in concert for the first time at the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce, Florida, and I remember nearly dying from happiness. Okay, surely this is a slight exaggeration, but rightfully so. Perlman's lusciously romantic style and commanding stage presence cannot hardly be matched by any other performing musician. Once I heard that the University of Florida would be bringing him to Gainesville to perform for the many classical music lovers here, I knew instantly that I would be in that audience.

My concert ticket and program from Itzhak Perlman's
performance at the Phillips Center.

Curtesy of Saturday night's program notes, I learned a few more things about Perlman that simply astounded me: Perlman played at President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony, he played at a State Dinner in 2007 for Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, he has won 16 Grammy Awards for his countless recordings and musical collaborations (P.S. he won the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007), and he has starred on many stages worldwide as one of the reigning violin soloists of this century. Now can you understand my excitement?!

And just as I had assumed it would be, his performance on Saturday night with Rohan de Silva was just as amazing as all of his other performances have been. I brought one of my dear friends along to the show, and he had never heard of Perlman before I mentioned him. I, of course, was very proud of our front row balcony seats, but during the first half of the concert, we both scouted out two empty seats down in the second row of the floor seats, which we dashed down to as soon as intermission began. And I will say, that move was absolutely worth it! From those seats, we could see Perlman's facial expressions and movements that were only a distant blur up in the balcony.

Gushing me with my guest, David LaRussa, in front
of the stage at the Phillips Center.

Besides the awfully nervous page turner on the stage, the performance was near perfection. Perlman's performances of violin sonatas by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Schumann and Ravel were charged with emotion and passion, and his compilation of encore show pieces and Trump jokes were equally as entertaining. I hope I am able to see Itzhak Perlman perform in concert again in the near future, and PLEASE, check out some of his videos on YouTube for yourself. They are well worth watching.