Joshua Bell Performs Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

For over thirty years, violin virtuoso Joshua Bell has been one of America's greatest classical exports. Showing a prodigious talent from a young age, the wunderkind turned adult maestro has recorded and played much of the standard violin repertoire, imbuing each showpiece with an effortless charm and lyrical, bright playing style that never loses its smooth, translucent tones. He is afforded a hero's welcome during his performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at the Benaroya Hall this winter. 

Presided over by special guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, the ensemble sets off to a rousing start with modernist, post-expressionist Finnish composer Lotta Wennakoski's Hava, a fast-paced textural piece that makes up part of the Amor Omnia Suite. This is followed by Haydn's Symphony No. 102, one of the Classical period icon's most revered works, before the program comes to a close with Bell and the Mendelssohn Concerto. Completed in 1844, the deeply lyrical and passion-filled work is one of the most highly prized gems of the concerto repertoire and the perfect match for Bell's vivid expression.