Not many pianists will choose to clean the stage wearing a sexy apron in the middle of a concert, nor will many violinists perform with a six-inch bow. But for pianist Hyungki Joo and violinist Aleksey Igudesman, this is the norm. This past Saturday, the renowned musical comedy duo performed their show “A Little Nightmare Music” at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center. Igudesman and Joo, friends since the age of 12, have over 35 million views on their YouTube clips and perform worldwide with top musicians. The show featured the pair’s unique blend of classical music, rock and pop hits, comedy and theatrics.
“A Little Nightmare Music” featured what might be considered the core of Igudesman and Joo’s performance — finding creativity in everything, especially mistakes. The show turned “mistakes” — falling asleep at the piano, tossing but not catching the violin bow — into opportunities for laughter and music. The duo’s well known opening piece, “Meditation” from Jules Massenet’s opera “Thais,” was interrupted by a cell phone ringing; instead of simply stopping the performance, Joo and Igudesman adapted the piece to include the ringtone’s theme, creating beautiful music and variations around the default Verizon ringtone.
For the next two hours, the duo created an organic space onstage, mostly addressing each other rather than the audience. This dialogue between Igudesman and Joo gave the audience an inside-look at performances. The two two tweaked and modified their pieces right on stage, giving the audience a glimpse of how a show changes in real time. Four bars into Mozart’s famous “Alla Turca,” Joo simply stopped playing and politely requested Igudesman change from the original key of A minor to A major, declaring that the new key would create a “more alto … more technological” energy to match that of the Palo Alto audience. The audience saw how performers, especially Igudesman and Joo, might tailor their performance to each audience. This playful banter between both men only emphasized moments when either performer chose to speak to the audience directly, whether they asked if viewers “[didn’t] mind being [their] cows this evening” or narrated the latest 20th Century Fox movie, “The Last Kung-Fu Violinist.”
Igudesman and Joo evoked laughter from everyone, with slapstick humor for the 6-year-olds and more suggestive humor for parents and grandparents. Kids outright laughed when the piano lid slammed on Joo’s hands, or when Igudesman played violin while dancing an Irish jig. The older audience was thoroughly amused when Joo acknowledged his small hands but insisted only his hands were small, as well as when Joo played a series of single notes with only his middle finger — and very pointed glares at Igudesman.
Both Igudesman and Joo are top musicians, possessing the technical ability required by professional-level pieces such as Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor. They performed well not just alone but also with perfect coordination in the arrangements on everything from from a high-speed version of “Alla Turca” to the ending chords of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” The pair displayed an impressive musical flexibility, effortlessly switching between styles as different as a light, airy Mozart piece and the dramatic James Bond theme song. Even when playing in an unorthodox fashion, whether it was Igudesman using a tiny violin bow or Joo playing the piano upside-down pedaling with his head, both musicians still sounded fantastic.
The concert finished with a rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” and as the last note rang out, the duo shouted “Mozart will survive!” in tribute to the composer. It was an ending characteristic of Igudesman and Joo’s humor, spirit and love of music.
Contact Serena Wong at serenaw ‘at’ stanford.edu.