Violin Concerto 1 / Violin Concerto

This was Joshua Bell's first recording, made when he was 18 years old, but it already displays all the hallmarks of his style: an impeccable, brilliant technique so natural that one is never aware of it and a soaring, radiantly shimmering tone of singular beauty, intensity, warmth, and variety. Even more striking is his response to the music: with deeply felt, genuine expressiveness, he combines the spontaneity, romantic ardor, passion, and exuberance of youth with a mature inwardness, simplicity, and serenity. Using his formidable virtuosity only in the service of the music, Bell plays with great charm, poetry, and nobility, and without a trace of sentimentality; his musical feeling is so honest that he needs no external exaggerations to express himself. Like many aspiring young violinists, Bell was assigned two well-worn staples for his recording debut, but he makes them sound as fresh as new discoveries. By contrast, the orchestra sounds jaded and pedestrian, and is not always with him in fact or spirit, but his irresistible vitality triumphs over all obstacles. --Edith Eisler