★★★★★
By the time I started collecting seriously in 2005 this 2002 album was nowhere to be found in my area. It's not really a surprise, either; Norrington had switched to bigger projects, and Bell was doing film and crossover albums like they were going out of style. So when I saw this at my local bookstore (remember those?!), I was inclined to give it serious consideration. The results are highly impressive. Bell has never been my favorite violinist, but I can't really pinpoint why...
- www.classical.net
2013-12-19
★★★★★
Summary for the Busy Executive: Finally, at a loss for words. I don't believe in the concept of greatest anything that you can't judge with measurable criteria: the longest opera, yes; the greatest opera, no. So the concept of Greatest Composer Ever in itself rubs me the wrong way. But make no mistake: if you do propose a GCE, you had better make it J.S. Bach, or I'll want to know the reason why you came up with somebody, at first glance, inferior...
- www.classical.net
2010-03-18
★★★★★
As the name suggests, this is a smoochy violin CD, not one that is focused on jaw-dropping feats of agility - in other words, it is romantic, not Romantic. (The bulk of the music comes from the Romantic era, however.) It appears that Decca got the idea for this compilation from Romance of the Violin, a best-selling CD that Bell recorded for Sony Classical in 2003. That CD consisted entirely of arrangements for violin and orchestra; this one sticks, for the most part, to "real" violin music...
- www.classical.net
2009-06-06
★★★★★
In his early thirties, Bell is already a big-name violinist. Hearing him in these two works affirms the correctness of that coveted status. He has technique, a gorgeous, if slightly icy, tone, and a mature interpretive sense. In short, he has all the tools necessary to continue the rise to the top of his trade.
Bell's reading of the Brahms may not be revelatory (whose of late has been, though?), but neither will it detract from his meteoric ascent...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
James Horner excels at crafting bright, soaring melodies that stir the feelings of multiplex visitors and cling determinedly to their brains on the way home. It is a skill well suited to sweeping tales of heroism like Titanic, Apollo 13, and Braveheart, all of which he scored to great acclaim. But some of his finest work has been for smaller-scale pictures like Field of Dreams and A Beautiful Mind...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28