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DiscountDelight - The Kreisler Album
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List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $13.92
Your Save: $ 3.06 ( 18% )
Availability: Usually ships in 3 to 6 weeks
Manufacturer: Decca
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028944440928
Label: Decca
Manufacturer: Decca
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Decca
Release Date: 1996-03-12
Studio: Decca
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful expression with a great spirit
Comment: One of the glories of living in Bloomington, Indiana, is that I am surrounded by world class music performance opportunities, and one of the occasional treats has been Joshua Bell, whose family lived in Bloomington during his youth; Bell frequently returns home to play in concerts.
This particular album was recorded in the mid-1990s, while Bell was exiting his 'child prodigy' stage and becoming a performer whose staying power was being rapidly confirmed. Bell is a technical genius, with playing that is nearly flawless and has great range of interpretation.
Fritz Kreisler is probably a name not known to many, but according to Bell, 'I consider Fritz Kreisler to have been the last in a long line of great violinst-composers, which stretches back as far as Tartini and Corelli.' Because of the insight the violinist virtuoso brings to composition, there is a special feel to the music, for the violinist composer knows what the instrument is capable of in terms of tone, spirit, and technical expertise.
Kreisler was born in Vienna in 1875, but spent much of his life and gained much of his experience in France, Germany, and America (where he eventually became a citizen). He used to play with his audiences by passing off his own compositions as new 'arrangements' of previously unknown Baroque and Classical pieces; of course, some colleagues in the music world knew the truth, but perhaps it was owing to Kreisler's modesty that he didn't want to offer too many of his own pieces in performances.
Joshua Bell continues to record and perform with power and style, but perhaps this album remains one the best of his performances. Recorded at the urging of Josef Gingold, his teacher and mentor (who did not live to see the production completed), it has a poignancy about it, as well as good-heartedness that comes through very clearly.
Bell is joined by pianist Paul Coker as a brilliant accompanist; the duo provide a powerful pair for the expression of Kreisler's music.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Briliant!!!
Comment: What can I say? Bell is probably the best of the young generation violinists these days. He brings so much charm to anything he does. Lush sound, yet light where need be... Such beautiful phrasing, so well ballanced. This recording can be heard again and again and again, even if the music itself is not terribly deep... I love it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A connection of passion
Comment: After listening to disc after disc after disc of violin works, one finds oneself thinking, "Where has the passion gone for playing violin?" Yes, absolutely astounding recordings abound, but very few offer the true passion of putting the bow to the strings. Technique and "flawless" fingerings have reduced the modern virtuosi to mere composition puppets. They are all "perfect". It is truly a joy to hear a violinist passionate about his playing and that comes across very elatedly with Mr. Bell playing the pieces from Kreisler. Every track is played as though he honestly enjoys it! A superb recording from the student of Gingold.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Duet
Comment: While I bought this recording because I have loved Kreisler music for years, and I agree with the previous accolades, I was taken with the way Bell and his pianist complimented each other in their performance. I found myself listening to his piano and enjoying it, may I say, almost as much as Joshua Bell's wonderful talent. It was, I thought, in some ways, a duet.
I will certainly buy more Joshua Bell, and will look for Paul Coker on those recordings too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Comment: I can't say it any better than anyone else has - but this CD is just fabulous. This was the first Joshua Bell CD I ever listened to, and and it is definitely one of my favorites. Most of these pieces are so light-hearted, and some so virtuose, that they will just make you smile. If you listened to this recording and liked it at all, I highly recommend Presenting Joshua Bell, Short Trip Home, and the Red Violin (as well as his many concerto discs) to hear some more great Joshua Bell music!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Fritz Kreisler, incomparable violinist and prolific composer, was the supreme interpreter of his own pieces; his recordings of them have cast a spell on generations of performers. Joshua Bell succumbed to it as a boy, but avoids the pitfall of trying to imitate Kreisler's style, putting his own stamp on both the original pieces and the so-called baroque arrangements, which Kreisler eventually admitted having written himself. The program, shrewdly chosen to display Kreisler's multifaceted versatility, includes stylized, graceful dances, dreamy reveries, outbursts of joy and passion, parodistic syncopation, and, of course, true Viennese character pieces. Bell's love of the music suffuses every note; he captures mood, character, and expression with flair and impeccable style. His playing, technically brilliant and tonally ravishing, has humor, wit, grace, elegance, and irresistible charm. Sentiment never becomes sentimentality; there is not a trace of schmalz or kitsch. The piano parts, with their sophisticated harmonies and skillful counterpoint, prove that Kreisler was a good composer as well as a fine pianist; Paul Coker plays them with just the right combination of rhythmic steadiness and idiomatic freedom. --Edith Eisler
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