LIVING UP TO THE LEGACY OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN.Byline: - Rob Lowman When Joshua Bell
Bernstein took up residence for a while in the town to do some composing. Though Bell was already known in classical circles - a child prodigy Noun 1. child prodigy - a prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age; "Mozart was a child prodigy" infant prodigy, wonder child child, kid, minor, nipper, tiddler, youngster, tike, shaver, small fry, nestling, fry, tyke - a young person of either , he made his national debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra, founded 1900 by Fritz Scheel, who was its conductor until his death in 1907. Scheel was followed by Karl Pohlig (1907–12). Under the leadership (1912–38) of Leopold Stokowski, the orchestra became one of the world's finest when he was 14, followed by a Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall Concert hall in New York, N.Y., U.S. It was endowed by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie at the insistence of the conductor Walter Damrosch (1862–1950). performance - the violinist says sadly he never got to meet the great man, who died in 1990. But when Bell, now 33, takes the stage at the Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheatre at 2301 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California, USA, that is used primarily for music performances. The "bowl" in this context is the natural cavity in the earth into which the amphitheater is built, rather than the shape of the on Aug. 21 with the L.A. Philharmonic, he'll be playing music from Bernstein's ``West Side Story'' and ``Candide.'' ``I've always been a fan,'' Bell says of the legendary conductor/composer. On June 25, the violinist will release ``West Side Story Suite'' (Sony), which not only features music from the landmark musical but Bernstein's ``Serenade serenade [Ital. sera=evening], term used to designate several types of musical composition. Opera and song literature yield numerous examples of the serenade sung or played by a lover at night beneath his beloved's window; outstanding is ,'' a piece that Bell feels has been somewhat neglected but is ``really up there with the great 20th-century violin concertos.'' The suite was arranged by William Brohn, with whom Bell had worked on a previous album of Gershwin music, but the Grammy winner took a hands-on approach to this album. He says that when he went back and listened to ``West Side Story'' again, ``It was even greater than I even remembered - just incredible writing.'' Like Bernstein, the violinist - who has been named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People - doesn't place any limits on himself, having dived into a number of other genres besides those traditionally considered ``classical.'' He will, however, also be performing Brahms' Symphony No. 2 on the Bowl program. But as far as Bell is concern, it's all part of the same universe. ``The term 'classical' is such a huge umbrella,'' says Bell, who performed the Oscar-winning score for ``The Red Violin.'' ``Where does Gershwin's fit? In the classical music, you're constantly going between Bach and Prokofiev, and these are completely different worlds anyway. So it's not a stretch to go to Gershwin.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (JOSHUA BELL) |
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