"One of the benefits of being here is going dancing." VERBIER FESTIVAL & ACADEMY 2004:
Young, handsome, rich and intelligent, the American violinist Joshua Bell plays the happy few at altitude. Music lovers and young women are on the alert.
He has tired features, a glum mood. No, Joshua Bell doesn't suffer from yet another case of jetlag, but a lack of sleep after a night spent at a disco. "There are even pictures," caught by a press attache. Laconic, the American violinist, one of the stars of the festival, confirms his taste for this kind of vacation: "One of the benefits of being here -- going dancing. But I also brought my tennis racket."
As a general rule, Bell's life is summed up by work. A resident of New York -- "Sept. 11, 2001, I was on my balcony. I saw everything as it happened." -- above all, the violinist lives between a hotel and an airplane. "I divide my time between the United States and Europe, in equal parts. I really like Switzerland. I played in Bern in April. And I've returned to Verbier for three concerts. It's an opportunity to meet with artists like the French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who is also my friend, and also young musicians. Notably those in the orchestra directed by James Levine, and who might become tomorrow's stars."
Raised in the worship of American effectiveness (?), blessed with an advantageous physique (In 2000, he was elected among the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine), Bell balances his career between clever marketing and musical authenticity. On the one hand, he spent $6 million francs to play on the Gibson ex Huberman, a 1713 Stradivarius; on the other, he recorded "Romance of the Violin" for Sony. "A CD of transcriptions. They are melodies by Puccini, Mozart, Schubert ... I made this disc for the public at large. For more serious (music), I will soon record Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in Berlin."
With the exception of a stop at the Verbier festival, Joshua spends his time running around the planet, even if it means sacrificing his top-secret private life. Young female music lovers, however, can make do with his website, www.joshuabell.com. "I love the Internet," says the young man. "I can't respond to email, but as a rule, I read all of them. Many young people write me; this makes me very happy." One can't know any more about his age. "My birthday's coming up next Dec. 9; I'll tell you that I'll always be 30."
Time to rejoin (finally!) a young woman on the terrace. Joshua the handsome will have, all the same, to clarify that the concert from last night was moving. "Because the Brahms Violin Concerto is my favorite, along with the Beethoven. And there was so much context. A concert where you could find on the same stage Martha Argerich, the German tenor Thomas Quasthoff, and so many prestigious musicians in the room such as Kissin, even though he arrived late, it was touching, no question."
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