Sweetness of tone, immaculate playing and discreetly subtle determination shape the musicianship of US violin virtuoso, Joshua Bell, whose belief in the music he plays elevates his performances. His all-Schubert programme marks an ideal union - Bell will respond to Schubert's thoughtful classicism with its echoes of Mozart.
If only one great performer of the past could be summoned to be his major musical influence, it would be Fritz Kreisler, who enjoyed playing as a musician, not a virtuoso. Bell - for all his success, his $4 million 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius, interest in fast cars and glamour ranking as one of the top 50 "most beautiful people" in the US - is motivated by a now almost traditional quality, a simple love of playing music and a desire to convince himself and his audience.
Bell is one of those people who would have been good at anything he wanted to do, and also showed an early talent for tennis. He possesses surreal natural ability, which is fuelled by obsessive competitiveness. Born in Bloomington Indiana in 1968, he is the son of psychologist parents who gave him a violin when he was four. While his mother nurtured his gifts from his early years, his father was alert to the need to be prepared for the day his son would no longer need, nor want, his mother to make his decisions for him.
Some 12 years younger than British virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, and six years older than the flamboyant Russian Maxim Vengerov, Joshua Bell has much in common with both, but probably plays more like Kennedy. Both have that delicate touch which contrasts with Vengerov's robust virtuosity. Although not as outwardly eccentric as the Briton, whose self reinvention as a teen football fan was a rejection of his middle-class background, Bell shares Kennedy's quest to play music without having the "classical" label fixed too rigidly. Bell, an acclaimed chamber musician, is considered a "crossover" artist and has recorded bluegrass as well as film soundtracks. The Red Violin, composed by John Corigliano and performed by Bell, won the 2003 Oscar.
Unlike his equally gifted compatriots, Hilary Hahn, and Gil Shaham, the musician most likely to inherit the mantle of the great Itzhak Perlman, Bell defies definitive classifications because of his wide-ranging approach. If he is a rebel, he is of the more deliberate variety. He made his orchestral debut at 14, performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti. Bell recorded Gershwin with John Williams, while his recording of the Sibelius and Goldmark violin concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen is a major achievement.
A great deal of razzmatazz surrounds Bell, who is better looking than most musicians, but he is a significant artist who believes the great works of the repertoire should only be recorded yet again if the performer has something new to offer. Certainly his playing of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, live with the Berlin Philharmonic, and just released on the Sony Classical label, justifies yet another recording of one of the Big Five 19th-century violin concertos. His playing of three sweetly tuneful works by Schubert on Saturday will showcase that particular Kreisler sound that makes Bell such an appealing performer.
