Joshua Bell

This is Joshua Bell’s first CD of Sonatas on Sony Classical and it is a passionately nuanced interpretation of works from Saint-Saëns, Franck and Ravel. Joshua Bell is one of the world’s most successful violinists and has won multiple Grammy awards, was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize and named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. Bell was recently named Music Director for the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields becoming the first person to hold this title since Sir Neville Marriner founded the Orchestra in 1958.

Often referred to as the “poet of the violin”, his 2004 album Romance of the Violin was named the “Classical CD of the Year” by Billboard Magazine, with Bell named “Classical Artist of the Year.”

The three Sonatas chosen for this disc are very different though linked extraneously through their inherent national style:

The Saint-Saëns sonata remains one of the most exciting sonatas in the repertoire; the feverish finale is guaranteed to bring the house down. Bell’s recording of César Franck’s Violin Sonata allows him to pay homage, through his mentor Josef Gingold, to the two great artists who created this undying masterpiece. Written 125 years ago, at the height of the French Belle Epoque for the wedding of his friend, the virtuoso Eugene Ysaÿe (with whom Gingold studied). Ravel’s more fantastic sonata offers a kaleidoscope of different thrills, as seen in the unexpected yet beautiful blending of genres in the slow “Blues” movement of his sonata.

“French Impressions is the culmination of my last decade of exploration and performance with pianist Jeremy Denk, and I hope that with this recording we can affect the listener with the same joy and spiritual enrichment that these masterpieces have provided us with over the years.” Joshua Bell

Joshua Bell lights up the stage with this dazzling performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the centerpiece of the Nobel Prize Concert© in honour of the 2010 Nobel Prize Laureates. Part of the official Nobel Week, this tribute concert opens with music by Beethoven that urgently evokes the spirit of freedom from tyranny. And closing the evening is a glowing account by Sakari Oramo and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic of Sibelius’s monument to orchestral majesty, the titanic Fifth Symphony.

BONUS: Interviews featuring Joshua Bell, Sakari Oramo and Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010’s Nobel Laureate in Literature

Picture Format Blu-ray: FULL HD

Sound Formats Blu-ray: DTS HD Master Audio

PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 91:25

Disc Format: BD 25

FSK: 0

The concept of At Home with Friends was inspired by Bell’s long-time practice of holding ‘musical soirées’ at his New York residence – eclectic gatherings of musicians, actors, comics, literary figures and others who convene for the sheer joy of sharing their art in an informal setting. With this in mind, Bell has spent the past four years designing and building his home in Manhattan to accommodate the ideal ‘stay-at-home’ venue.

At Home with Friends, covers an eclectic range of music - from classical to pop, bluegrass to Broadway, jazz and world music. The repertoire ranges from a 16th Century love song with Sting to pure violin and piano duets with Marvin Hamlisch, Dave Grusin and with Las Vegas musician Frankie Moreno. It also includes full-scale ensemble pieces with Chris Botti and Josh Groban (introducing his lyrics for film composer Ennio Morricone’s title theme from Cinema Paradiso) and unexpected partnerships with the likes of Anoushka Shankar, the Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (in “My Funny Valentine”), and Rachmaninoff himself on the piano in Grieg’s violin sonata (thanks to Zenph’s astounding new recording technology).