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3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 The Playing is Good, But.... Aug 03, 2009
Joshua Bell is an excellent fiddler, no doubt about that. But he's never been one of my favorites.
He has tons of natural ability and he plays almost without effort....but when it comes to interpretation, his performances and recordings have always left me very cold. This disc
might be a good gift for someone who remembers Bell as the first teen idol of the violin,
back in the 80s. But for violinists, I don't recommend this disc. The Sibelius is
very boring. There is nothing new interpretively to distinguish it from a good fifty other
recordings or performances. If you want firy, passionate Sibelius, listen to Cho-Liang "Jimmy" Lin, Leonidas Kavakos, Kyung Wha Chung, or any number of others. I once heard a concermaster play it with his orchestra and the performance was far more interesting than this recording, even though technically inferior.
The Goldmark is fine - I'm glad more people are recording it because it remains unjustly neglected.
Supposedly it was performed a lot right after it was first written in the last quarter of the 19th century, and then it disappeared for a long while...until Milstein resurrected it. But Bell plays it like
he's just playing it for the sake of playing it whereas Milstein cherished the work.
I will give some props to Salonen, who can always be counted on for superb balance. That's about it - look into some other recordings and leave this one on the shelf though.
7 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Excessive rather than expressive Oct 01, 2006
Bell's prodigious technique not withstanding, he continually approaches the repetoire as a personal Rorshach, rather than a journey to the composer's intention. In concert, he bends and sways like a fiddler at a Hungarian restaurant. Judging by this Sibelius, he's never met a ritard he didn't like. All of that herky-jerky stopping and starting all but ruins the gorgeous through line of this miraculous concerto. Sibelius may have been a romantic, but his Finnish personality was cooler by many Celsius degrees than the stereotypical sheen given by Mr. Bell. By contrast, Salonen's accompaniment with the L.A. Phil may be even more persuasive than his work with The Philharmonia for Cho-Liang Lin. But Lin's absolute understanding of the work, his intelligence, clarity, beautiful tone...his total approach makes this the recording to own. Lin has unjustifiably never attained the superstar status of Bell, but he is by far the greater musician.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 LACK OF SOMETHING ON MY PART May 30, 2006
Due to, I'm sure, a lack of musical sophistication on my part, I've never really had much of an appreciation for Sibelius's violin Concerto. I have always loved many works by Jean (mainly his symphonies) just not his Violin Concerto which, in the past, has failed to move me in any way. I must put a fine point on the aforesaid. I have indeed heard some live performances of the Sibelius violin Concerto that I have been "moved" by; however, the recordings that I've heard have left me rather "cold" until this recording with Bell and Salonen. They deliver it wonderfully! Bell plays the outer fast movements with breathtaking virtuosity and the slow one with great feeling; the melodies really flow in a beautiful arch of sound. To me, Bell's tone is gorgeous Salonen is a most sensitive accompanist always keeping his forces under great control and never allowing them to drown out the soloist as I have heard in other recordings. I feel that one of the main reasons I enjoyed this recording of the Sibelius so much is the recording itself--the balance along with the sound is marvelous.
The Goldmark concerto is played wonderfully too. Bell again delivers its many melodies wonderfully and again the balance of the recording added to my enjoyment.
If you like romantic violin concertos, you can't get any better than this--two great artist (Bell and Salonen at the height of their powers.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Bell and Salonen: A Fine Collaboration! Oct 26, 2005
Joshua Bell continues to mature as a soloist. With every passing year his tone becomes ever more rich and luxurious and his technique now literally sparkles with virtuosity. And given the fact that this recording of the Sibelius and Goldmark Violin Concertos is five years old now makes the listener want to seek out contemporary collaborations between Bell and Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to discover how each has grown.
This pairing of Sibelius with Goldmark is very wise: the two concertos are so widely different that they create a fine continuum of just what the violin is capable of doing. The Sibelius, played here with passion and all the aura of the high north of Scandinavia, finds Joshua Bell in committed form: the phrasing is liquid and longing, the rapid sequences are articulated with utter ease, and the soaring conclusion is among the finest recorded. Salonen and the LA Phil provide that wondrous sonic support for which they are so well known.
The Goldmark concerto is less well known to the concertgoer, so ensconced is it in folk rhythms and flavors that it longs for a line of continuity. Yet Bell tosses off this fiendish work with aplomb and makes it seem a natural for the standard repertoire.
Hearing this recording makes one want to attend a concert performance today, with the same forces, and with the associated growth in expressivity of all concerned. A fine recording. Grady Harp, October 05
3 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Lovely, lovely sounds but not involving as performances Sep 24, 2005
Bell doesn't know how to make an unbeautiful sound on the violin, and he plays an incredible Stradivarius. The recorded sound of both soloist and orhestra is super-clear and detailed, one of the best to come out of LA from Sony. But as a peformance the Sibelius in particular is uninvolving, sounding far too careful and fussed over. Too bad, becasue both Bell and Salonen are major young artists. I had hoped for better.
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