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Binding: Audio CDEAN: 0828768806029 Label: SONY CLASSICS Manufacturer: SONY CLASSICS MPN: 88060 Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: SONY CLASSICS Release Date: September 04, 2007 Studio: SONY CLASSICS Editorial Review: Amazon.com: This four-movement concerto is a terrific piece of music and a great showpiece, as well. Part of it originally appeared in a film of the same name, but make no mistake--this is no "pop" violin, concert-like exercise; this is a work that should become a repertory staple. After an opening chaconne (recorded elsewhere as a solo piece), the hushed, fascinating sound world of the scherzo is riveting, and the lush "andante flautando" bathes us in the Romantic sensibility. But it's the startling and glittering "accelerando finale," with its manic forward propulsion, that suddenly makes the listener realize that we are in the presence of a masterwork. Violinist Joshua Bell again proves himself an absolute master, capable of both the most sensitive, sensual phrasing and stunning pyrotechnics, and he is just as impressive in the composer's "Violin Sonata," a somewhat more severe work. Marin Alsop leads the terrific Baltimore Symphony with superb precision. Highly recommended. --Robert Levine Album Description: Bell began taking violin lessons at the age of four after his mother discovered her son had taken rubber bands from around the house and stretched them across the handles of his dresser drawer to pluck out music he had heard her play on the piano. His parents got him a scaled-to-size violin for their then five-year-old son and started giving him lessons. A bright student, Bell took to the instrument but lived an otherwise normal midwest Indiana life playing video games and excelling at sports, namely tennis and bowling, even placing in a national tennis tournament at the age of ten. Bell studied as a boy first under Mimi Zweig, then switched to Josef Gingold after assurances from Bell's parents that they were not interested in pushing their son in the study of the violin but simply wanted him to have the best teacher for their son's abilities. Satisfied that the boy was living a normal life, Gingold took Bell on as his student and to this day, Bell speaks of Gingold fondly as a great teacher and mentor. At the age of fourteen, Bell appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. He studied the violin at the Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, while managing to graduate from Bloomington High School North in 1984, a year ahead of schedule. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - great violinistJoshua Bell is an amazing violinist who is able to perform effectively in a wide range of musical genres. Although I prefer his recordings of the great classic concerti, this is still another beautiful cd. Rating: - A Fiddle of Infinite JestForty years passed between the composition of Corigliano's "Sonata for violin and Piano" (1963) and the Red Violin Concerto premiere in 2003. The two works are very different in scope and scale, but to my ears they have a lot in common. I don't guarantee that I could recognize a previously unheard piece of music instantly as Corigliano's, but I'd be willing to try. In his notes for this CD, Corigliano says: the sonata is "for the most part a tonal work, although it incorporates non-tonal and ... Read More Rating: - Meet John Corigliano, an extraordinary contemporary composer, and Joshua Bell, the great violinistYou may have overheard at some party the following or a similar comment coming from a self-proclaimed music expert: "I only listen to Beethoven and the real music. The contemporary composers just don't cut it". Then somebody asks: "Which contemporary composers do you have in mind?" The answer follows: "They are all so bad that I don't even remember their names". I shall spare you my pontification that there is a difference between ignorance (not all of us are familiar with all the composers) and ... Read More Rating:  - HieroglyphicsI used a gift card from Barnes and Noble. I loaded it on my Media Player. Everything came out in Hieroglyphics of some sort. I took it back and explained the issue. They gave me another (as if the lot wasn't sent to them all at once. Of course, it all came out with the same hieroglyphics. Rating: - A Compelling Recording of Corigliano's "The Red Violin" Violin Concerto for Joshua BellIf you happen to be among the many who greatly treasure Joshua Bell's expressive, lyrical style of playing (myself included), then you'll find much to rejoice in this recently released recording of composer John Corigliano's "The Red Violin" concerto for violin and orchestra. It's a fascinating four movement work which opens with a long Chaconne that's replete with extremely demanding phrasing from Bell's violin; observant fans may recognize that it was an important part of Corigliano's original movie ... Read More |
