Customer Rating: 
Summary: The foremost young talent in clasical music
Comment: Joshua Bell is brilliant! His love for and ability to play the violin shine forth in every work on this recording.
While the Saint Saens and Ravel allow him to draw on emotion
a bit more than Poeme which is a pensive, somewhat saturnine work
nevertheless one is cognizant that they are listening to a champion.
I am delighted with this recording and recommend it to anyone
who enjoys middleweight solo violin works. The works are easily
listenable; it is the artist who makes them so.
by Nina Lockwood
Customer Rating:
Summary: The best perfomance of the Tzigane ever!
Comment: This is an excelent CD and along with the Barber/Walton got me hooked on Joshua Bell.
1. Intro. and Rondo Capriccioso: A great performance. One of the best I've heard. And I've heard several.
2. Meditation: The best performance I've heard, the original version.
3. Zigeunerweisen: Second only to Heifitz.
4. Poeme: Although I still like the Heifitz version better, Bell's is a more soulful, true to the original, perfomance.
5. Caprice After Saint-Saens: A good performance of a not to wonderful showpeice.
6. Tzigane: Oh, the wonderful Tzigane. This is absolutely the best performance you will ever hear of the Tzigane. If for nothing else buy this CD just for this piece. Bell gives an amazing, heartfelt, dramatic performance that definitely qualifies as briliant.
One of my favorite CDs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Transport to another time, another place
Comment: Executed beautifully, Mr. Bell has selected such wonderful pieces. Often, my eyes have filled with tears at the marvelous melodies my ears were privileged to hear. I have seen Mr. Bell in live performance and he is a consummate artist, but this cd is very special. I also purchased "Romance" where unusual compositions, not always connected with the violin, were utilized. My favorite of that particular cd, is "Casta Diva". I recommend both with enthusiasm. I suspect this is what Art should accomplish ... to make one more aware of their humanity (hopefully).
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Gentle and Sweet :-)
Comment: This CD is a collection of the most well-known violin pieces. Josh played most of them very well, but I especially love his interpretation of Massenet's Meditation (better than Mutter's and most other violinists' versions). Josh is so gentle and melancholy, and he can completely express the mixed feelings of Thais in the opera. On the other hand, his performance of Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen seems too slow and weak. I definitely think that Gil Shaham's version is better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: wonderful performance
Comment: Wonderful performance. (However, I still feel his skills on violin are not as good as Hefeiz.)
