Joshua Bell - Vivaldi, The Four Seasons - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields have joined forces and created an absolutely marvelous listening experience with their latest recording released in September 2008. Joshua Bell, one of the world's most celebrated violinists, takes his virtuosic talents to a level I've never encountered. He makes the violin do things I never thought was possible. Throughout the album, prepare to be amazed and astonished. And even though there is now yet another recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, this may be the one Four Seasons to rule them all.

Most of you know all about Vivaldi's Four Seasons, as it is probably one of the most prolifically recorded and performed pieces of classical music. However, despite the fact that it may be "overplayed", the performance given by Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields may be the best I've heard. As I said before, if you think you own the "best" recording of this famous work, you may want to reconsider.

Now, I mustn't forget to tell you about this little gem of classical music hidden on the very bottom of the album. Yes, last but certainly not least, is a fourteen minute piece that is not as well known as the album's title work - Tartini's Sonata in G Minor for Violin and Basso Continuo, aka the "Devil's Trill" Sonata. This unique classical work has a small, but dark conception. Thanks to the wonderful program notes written by Linda Kobler included with this album, we learn that Giuseppe Tartini went to bed one night in 1713 and dreamed he encountered the Devil. "I thought of handing him my violin to see what he would do with it," said Tartini. "Great was my astonishment when I heard a sonata so singular and so beautiful, played with such superiority and intelligence, that I had never heard the like, nor even conceived that something so lovely might be possible. I felt such pleasure - rapture, surprise - that my breath failed: the violence of the sensation awoke me. I immediately seized my violin, trying to reproduce the sounds I had heard, but in vain." Though Tartini said it turned out to be the best piece of music he had ever written, it couldn't even compare to what he had heard in his dream. Today, the "Devil's Trill" Sonata remains one of the most difficult pieces to perform, however Bell breezes right through and I'm sure without breaking a sweat.