小提琴家約夏‧貝爾邁入五十歲之際之紀念套裝專輯。
專輯錄音使用史特拉底瓦里名琴─湯姆泰勒、胡伯曼。
14張CD完整收錄約夏‧貝爾演奏經典之作，當中更包含與作曲家柯瑞格里亞諾合作的《紅色小提琴》協奏曲。
今年小提琴王子約夏‧貝爾即將邁入五十歲，在此索尼特別將他過去所灌錄的經典曲目收集成套發行，以作為紀念。近年來約夏‧貝爾逐漸將他的演出重心從提琴轉向指揮，這和他的前輩小提琴家帕爾曼（Itzhak Perlman）一樣，也因他從小就熟悉樂團運作、演出、曲目，便成為現今樂團搶手、炙手可熱的指揮家。
約夏‧貝爾是目前樂壇少數依然活躍的浪漫派小提琴大師金戈爾（Josef Gingold）的高徒，金戈爾師承比利時小提琴大師易沙耶（Eugène Ysaÿe），其門下另一位高材生是夏漢（Gil
Shaham），他們都是以琴聲優美和諧聞名的法比樂派小提琴技法的傳人。在金戈爾的指導下，約夏‧貝爾以不追求演奏生涯的心態練習小提琴，過著正常小朋友打球、打電玩的生活，還曾經是美國洲際網球賽的小選手。雖然沒有壓力，但在正確的指導下，讓他十四歲就能夠與費城管弦樂團在大師慕提（Riccardo
Muti）的指揮下演出，也因為這樣讓他決定要從事音樂演奏，日後即在印地安那大學音樂系畢業。但其實早在畢業之前，約夏‧貝爾就已經成為當時樂壇的明日之星，和許多知名樂團有過合作，也上遍知名的音樂聽。
約夏‧貝爾演奏生涯中擁有兩把史特拉底瓦里名琴，第一把是「湯姆泰勒」（Tom Taylor），這把琴在當年他轉手時大約價值兩百萬美金，之後他相中另一把史特第瓦里名琴，那是有著三百年歷史的名琴「胡伯曼」（Gibson ex Huberman），這把琴造於一七一三年，是製琴師史特拉底瓦里製琴事業黃金時期的傑作，之前由知名小提琴家胡伯曼使用（Bronislaw
Huberman），而這把琴在約夏‧貝爾當年入手時大約是四百萬美金。約夏‧貝爾深愛這把小提琴，當年聽說此琴要落入一名德國買家手中，為此賣掉他原本的湯姆泰勒名琴，並再湊足另外兩百萬才獲得。在這套錄音中，我們可以分別聽到貝爾持這兩把琴所作的不同錄音，基本上在二零零三年貝爾灌錄《小提琴浪漫曲》專輯之前的錄音，都是使用湯姆泰勒演奏，在這張專輯以後，則都是使用胡伯曼演奏。
約夏‧貝爾於一九九九年以後才和索尼唱片簽約，這之前他灌錄的主要都是浪漫派的曲目，在簽入索尼以後，他擁有更大的曲目選擇權力，因此在錄音作品中加入了很多和現代作曲家合作的首演曲目，另也不乏像柴可夫斯基之類的錄音，但最讓約夏‧貝爾自豪的還是一些他親自參與合作的曲目，像是與作曲家柯瑞格里亞諾合作的《紅色小提琴》協奏曲。
【收錄曲目】
DISC 1 Gershwin Fantasy GEORGE GERSHWIN
Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra on Porgy and Bess (excerpts)
3 Preludes
I Got Rhythm
Embraceable You
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Liza (All The Clouds’ll Roll Away)
But Not for Me
Sweet and Low-Down
Love Is Here to Stay
Joshua Bell violin
London Symphony Orchestra
John Williams conductor / piano
DISC 2 Maw: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra NICHOLAS MAW
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Joshua Bell violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Roger Norrington conductor
DISC 3 Sibelius/ Goldmark: Violin Concertos JEAN SIBELIUS
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor op. 47
KARL GOLDMARK
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor op. 28
Joshua Bell violin
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor
DISC 4 Bernstein: West Side Story Suite LEONARD BERNSTEIN
West Side Story – Suite
Lonely Town
Make Our Garden Grow
Serenade after Plato’s Symposium
New York, New York
Joshua Bell violin
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Zinman conductor
DISC 5 Beethoven and Mendelsohn Violin Concertos FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor op. 64
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 61
Joshua Bell violin
Camerata Salzburg
Sir Roger Norrington conductor
DISC 6 Romance of the Violin GIACOMO PUCCINI
“O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
La Fille aux cheveux de lin
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Nocturne in C-sharp minor op. posth. 4:08
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS
Le Cygne
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Ständchen D 957/4
VINCENZO BELLINI
“Casta Diva”
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 21 in C major K 467 - II Andante
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Melodie
ALEXANDER BORODIN
String Quartet No. 2 in D major III Notturno. Andante
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Songs My Mother Taught Me op. 55/4
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Pur ti miro
JULES MASSENET
Élégie: O doux printemps d’autrefois
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Träumerei op. 15/7
Joshua Bell violin
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Michael Stern conductor
DISC 7 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, Op. 35; PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Mélodie;
Danse russe from Swan Lake, Op. 20 (Act III); Serenade melancolique Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 35
Méditation in D minor op. 42/1
Danse russe op. 20/20a
Sérénade mélancolique in B-flat minor op. 26
Joshua Bell violin
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas conductor
DISC 8 Voice of the Violin SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Vocalise op. 34/14
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Ave Maria
JULES MASSENET
« Pourquoi me réveiller »
GABRIEL FAURÉ
Après un rêve op. 7/1
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Song to the Moon
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
None but the Lonely Heart
GAETANO DONIZETTI
“Una furtiva lagrima”
CARL ORFF
In trutina
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Song without Words No. 25 in G major “May Breezes” op. 62/1
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Beau Soir
MANUEL MARÍA PONCE
Estrellita
MANUEL DE FALLA
Nana (Berceuse)
GEORGES BIZET
« Je crois entendre encore »
RICHARD STRAUSS
Morgen op. 27/4
GABRIEL FAURÉ
Après un rêve op. 7/1
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Joshua Bell violin
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Michael Stern conductor
DISC 9 The Red Violin Concerto JOHN CORIGLIANO
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra “The Red Violin”
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Joshua Bell violin
Jeremy Denk piano
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop conductor
DISC 10 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons ANTONIO VIVALDI
Le quattro stagioni
La primavera – Concerto No. 1 in E major RV 269 (op. 8/1)
L’estate – Concerto No. 2 in G minor RV 315 (op. 8/2)
L’autunno – Concerto No. 3 in F major RV 293 (op. 8/3)
L’inverno – Concerto No. 4 in F minor RV 297 (op. 8/4)
GIUSEPPE TARTINI
Sonata for Violin and Basso continuo in G minor
John Constable harpsichord
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell conductor · violin
DISC 11 French Impressions CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in D minor op. 75
CÉSAR FRANCK
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major
MAURICE RAVEL
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in G major
GABRIEL FAURÉ
Berceuse op. 16
Joshua Bell violin
Jeremy Denk piano
DISC 12 Beethoven: Symphonies LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
4 & 7
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major op. 60
Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell conductor
DISC 13 Bach JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Concerto for Violin, Strings and Continuo in A minor BWV 1041
Concerto for Violin, Strings and Continuo in E major BWV 1042
Chaconne BWV 1004/5
Air on the G String BWV 1068/2
Gavotte en Rondeau BWV 1006/3
John Constable harpsichord
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell conductor · violin
DISC 14 For the Love of Brahms JOHANNES BRAHMS
Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor op. 102
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor WoO 23 II Langsam 6:21
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Trio for Piano, Violin and Violoncello No. 1 in B major op. 8
Steven Isserlis cello
Jeremy Denk piano
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell conductor · violin