Joshua Bell ‘dazzles’ in his first performances as New Jersey Symphony Principal Guest Conductor
GRAMMY Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell conducted and performed in his first concerts as the New Jersey Symphony’s Principal Guest Conductor, leading the New Jersey Symphony in four consecutive performances from May 14–17 in Newark, Princeton and Morristown of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Saint-Saëns’ Third Violin Concerto and Mendelssohn’s “Pastoral” Symphony. James C. Taylor of NJ Advance Media reviewed the Saturday evening performance at NJPAC.
Bell made his debut as a soloist with the NJS in 1991, and he first conducted them in 2023 (also with a program of Beethoven and Mendelssohn). The Jersey players know him and respond well to impulses, and their playing on Saturday night had a tightness and sense of excitement that they usually display with their Music Director, Xian Zhang.
James C. Taylor of NJ Advance Media
» Read the full review from NJ Advance Media
Ralph Malachowski reviewed the Friday evening performance in Princeton.
Beginning with a throbbing, insistent Egmont Overture, the New Jersey Symphony spared nothing in energy and excitement for the violin concerto, played rapturously by Mr. Bell. Many audience members were so moved by the interpretation, that they broke into spontaneous applause wherever and whenever they could between movements.
Ralph Malachowski of PhillyGayCalendar