Joshua Hitching

Existing fans of violinist Joshua Bell are already well-acquainted with the broad scope of repertoire and performance abilities ranging deftly from the classical concerto repertoire to his well-known collaborations with Edgar Meyer. For those unfamiliar with Bell's recorded works, this two-disc set of The Essential Joshua Bell provides quite a comprehensive overview of his wide-ranging talents. Of course, it could also be argued that if one movement of a concerto is "essential," so too should be the rest of the movements.

Stradivarius est un nom gravé dans la mémoire collective, bien au-delà du cercle des initiés au classique. Le célèbre luthier meurt à Crémone en 1737 laissant derrière lui de nombreux violons à la sonorité inégalée (et quelques violoncelles aussi). Il en aurait produit près dun millier. Beaucoup sont encore en circulation, au fond de coffres de banques, de mécènes, ou fort heureusement encore joués par les plus grands interprètes vivants. 2CD Un best of violon de premier ordre. Un parcours idéal dans le grand répertoire, mais aussi des curiosités inhabituelles sous larchet brillant et au son voluptueux du Stradivarius de Joshua Bell.

The Joshua Jaswon Octet is a Berlin-based contemporary jazz ensemble, featuring a broad cross-section of exceptional young musicians from Europe's leading jazz scenes. Lead by the London-born saxophonist and composer, the ensemble released its debut album Silent Sea in October 2020, which was selected by BBC Music as one of the best jazz recordings of 2020/21 and received 4 and 5 star reviews across the UK and international media. Polar Waters draws out the distinct musical personalities of each member of the Octet into the group's collective sound was a part of the ensemble's natural evolution from its first record and something that has developed through extended time living with and performing the music. Jaswon focused on exploring the fluidity of roles, sound colours and textural combinations in the ensemble and how this related to both the collective and individual.

Handel's Old Testament oratorios can be difficult to tell apart–tenor Israelite hero, bass enemy or éminence grise, soprano ingenue, and alto priest or youth. What distinguishes Joshua? Real characters: tenor Joshua, confident to the point of conceit; grizzled old general Caleb, wistfully facing retirement; alto Othniel, an excited young warrior/lover fighting battles to win Caleb's giddy daughter, Achsah. Joshua's highlights are the showpiece arias. James Bowman sails through Othniel's impetuous "Let danger surround me"; Emma Kirkby (one of the best ornamenters in the business) charms and fascinates in Achsah's "Oh, had I Jubal's lyre" and "Hark! 'tis the linnet"; George Ainsley is a Joshua both vigorous and graceful, the chorus and the brass are stunning in "Glory to God" as they bring the walls of Jericho tumbling down. –Matthew Westphal

One of the most spectacular heroes of the Old Testament is Joshua, the successor to Moses, who caused the walls of Jericho to tumble down with that city's famous trombones. The Israelites' army conquered the promised land of Canaan under his leadership. This biblical story supplies the background to Handel's oratorio 'Joshua', premiered in 1748; it was supplemented by a love story involving the young captain, Othniel and Achsah, the daughter of an elder, by the presumed librettist, Thomas Morell. Thus the composer was able to include the entire spectrum of his musical expressivity: the magnificence of tympani and trumpets, joyful and jubilant choruses, virtuoso arias and moving love duets.

The hype machine wants us to love the stars it promotes, which has a backlash effect. I'm not sure many serious listeners would rank Joshua Bell as a first-class musician, given his glamorous popular image. But he's up to everything Prokofiev throws at the soloist in his two violin concertos and two sonatas. This bargain two-fer can stand up to any rival, including Oistrakh and Perlman. I'm only sorry I overlooked it for so long.