Voice of the Violin JOSHUA BELL, violin Orchestra of St. Luke's MICHAEL STERN, conductor
01 SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Vocalise 02 FRANZ SCHUBERT: Ave Maria 03 JULES MASSENET: Pourquoi me reveille?(Why do you wake me?) 04 GABRIEL FAURE: Apres un reve (After a dream) 05 ANTONIN DVORAK: Song to the Moon 06 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Laudate Dominum 07 PETER TCHAIKOVSKY: None but the Lonely Heart 08 GAETANO DONIZETTI: Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear)
All of the pieces collected on Voice of the Violin originated with the human voice in mind. From Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" to Dvorak's "Song to the Moon", these pieces come from opera, aria collections, and sets of songs that have no words. Choosing the works for this album was a delightful journey, a wonderful excuse to immerse myself in the rich treasury of music written for the voice. Some of these gems - like "Song to the Moon" - I've long had in mind to arrange for the violin, while others only recently struck me as having "voilin potential" as I pored over scores and listened to lots old opera and song recordings. ----Joshua Bell