Joshua Bell is a fantastic violinist and conductor. He's an "Indiana Living Legend," has received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award, and grew up in Bloomington. His most recent release is called "For the Love of Brahms" and features Brahms' Concerto for Violin and Cello, his original version of the Piano Trio No. 1, and a Benjamin Britten arrangement of Robert Schumann's Adagio from the Violin Concerto. Music Director John Clare spoke to Bell about this new Sony Classical release.
Joshua and cellist Steven Isserlis are joined by two acclaimed musical forces - pianist Jeremy Denk and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for this new recording.
“It was fascinating to explore in this album the extremes of Brahms’ creative career, from the passionate declarations of his youthful trio in B major to the late Double Concerto, his mellow, affectionate farewell to orchestral music. Since the concerto was written to celebrate Brahms' friendship of over 30 years with violinist Joseph Joachim, it is rather fitting that this recording should mark almost 30 years of close friendship between Joshua Bell and myself.” - Steven Isserlis
Find out more about this new release here. Joshua's facebook page is here. Bell continues to teach at IU and performs regularly in Bloomington!