This selection is also available in Super Audio format.
This selection was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Crossover Album."
Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell turns his attention to the music of Leonard Bernstein with a program that features music from the composer's Broadway musicals, most notably 'West Side Story.' The album opens with a suite constructed by William David Brohn of themes from that fabled score, a finely wrought musical tapestry that serves as a showcase for Bell's prodigious artistry. The violinist works his way through the familiar melodies and two cadenzas with his usual combination of dazzling technique and lustrous tone.
Bell further demonstrates the range of his talent in songs from other Bernstein musicals: Brohn's arrangements of "Lonely Town" and "New York, New York" from 'On The Town,' and John Corigliano's adaptation of "Make Our Garden Grow" from 'Candide.' The album also includes one of Bernstein's finest concert works, "Serenade after Plato's 'Symposium,'" here given a powerfully vivid reading by Bell. David Zinman and the Philharmonia Orchestra provide fine support throughout this well-conceived tribute to a musical giant.