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For Immediate Release JOSHUA BELL'S BEST-SELLING ROMANCE OF THE VIOLIN, BILLBOARD'S NO. 1 CLASSICAL ALBUM OF 2004, RELEASED ON DUALDISC AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 8, 2005 DualDisc Includes Filmed Highlights Of Joshua Bell At The Penthouse - Live From Lincoln Center, Featuring Live Performances Of Selections From Romance Of The Violin Bell Kicks Off U.S. Winter Recital Tour In February (New York, NY, January 5, 2005) - Timeless melodies from the entire spectrum of classical music sing with a fresh appeal on Romance of the Violin, a best-selling collection featuring Grammy-winning violinist Joshua Bell that is being re-released as a DualDisc. With arrangements by Craig Leon, who has produced and arranged albums for such classical artists as Luciano Pavarotti and countertenor Andreas Scholl, Romance of the Violin hit No. 1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical chart and stayed there for 12 weeks, remaining in the top 10 for 50 weeks in a row, following its original release in the fall of 2003. In December, Romance of the Violin was named No. 1 Classical Album of the Year by Billboard, as Bell was cited as No. 1 Classical Artist of the Year. The DualDisc will be released on Tuesday, February 8, 2005. With the first side of every DualDisc containing a full audio album, and the DVD side providing such multimedia features as music videos, and documentary footage, DualDisc was created to bring the fan even closer to the creative artistic process and to add an exciting new dimension to the consumer's musical experience. In the case of Romance of the Violin, the first side contains the full audio album, while the DVD player side introduces a 30-minute excerpt from the Joshua Bell At The Penthouse - Live From Lincoln Center concert, featuring Bell and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, broadcast on PBS last winter from the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center. Bell is the first American-born violinist ever to be featured in this series. He will be seen and heard in eight selections - several of which he introduces himself - including Chopin's Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," Debussy's "The Girl With the Flaxen Hair," Massenet's "Elegie" and Schumann's "Traumerei," as well three selections by violin legend Fritz Kreisler that are not heard on Romance of the Violin - "Liebesleid," "Liebesfreud" and "Schön Rosmarin." Romance of the Violin is a unique take on great melodies from instrumental, vocal and operatic works, spanning three centuries and representing composers as diverse as Bach and Debussy. For Bell's 27th recording, Leon has created a new setting for each selection, showcasing the richly singing tone of Bell's violin, the Antonius Stradivarius known as the Gibson ex Huberman, made in 1713 during the maker's "golden period." Stolen from Carnegie Hall in the 1930s and recovered when the thief made a deathbed confession in the 1980s, the instrument was introduced to Bell by its prior owner, violinist Norbert Brainin, whose pending sale of the instrument to a collector was intercepted by Bell. In this new recording, the Gibson ex Huberman sings once again in Bell's virtuosic hands. The recording features the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Michael Stern, and was made at Abbey Road Studios in London. Bell's violin echoes the soprano voice in the soaring melodies of "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma, and in the tender duet "Pur ti miro" from Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea. It also assumes the role of the voice in Schubert's "Serenade," Massenet's "Elegie" and Dvorak's "Songs My Mother Taught Me," and in the ardent melody of the Nocturne from Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 - best known as "And This is My Beloved" from the musical Kismet. The Andante from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 - a favorite since it was used in the film Elvira Madigan - is also featured on Romance of the Violin, as well as treatments of other popular melodies originally written for piano - Debussy's "The Girl With the Flaxen Hair," Chopin's Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor and Schumann's "Traumerei." The disc also includes Bach's "Air on the G String," "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice," and "The Swan" from Saint-Saens' The Carnival of the Animals. A violinist of diverse musical interests and accomplishments, Joshua Bell is an exclusive Sony Classical artist. His critically acclaimed recordings for the label have ranged from core-classical works (concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Goldmark) to new concert works written especially for him by such composers Edgar Meyer and Nicholas Maw, whose Violin Concerto, performed by Bell, captured the Grammy for Best Solo Performance With Orchestra. His imaginative new recordings of music from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Bernstein's West Side Story have been best sellers, and he served as a soloist, advisor and creative partner in John Corigliano's Oscar-winning score for the film The Red Violin. Bell kicks off his Winter 2005 recital tour of the U.S., joined by pianist Jeremy Denk, with a performance on February 4 at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale NY. The tour will also include performances at Spivey Hall in Morrow GA (February 5); Regional Arts Music @ Kravis Center in West Palm Beach FL (February 6); Lincoln Center in New York (February 9); Wake Forest University Secrest Artist Series in Winston-Salem NC (February 10); Duke University in Durham NC (February 11); the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia (February 13); Coastal Carolina University in Conway SC (February 14); Symphony Hall in Chicago (February 15); Ramsi P. Tick Memorial Concert Series in Buffalo NY (February 16); Paramount Theater in Charlottesville VA (February 18); and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy NY (February 19). Romance of the Violin, with violinist Joshua Bell, will be featured at www.joshuabell.com on Sony Classical's Web site at www.sonyclassical.com. ### CONTACTS: Carol Della Penna/Sony Classical 212-833-7479 carol_dellapenna@sonymusic.com Jane Covner/JAG PR 818-905-5511 jcovner@jagpr.com |