Darjeeling Infinite

A title like Romance of the Violin might suggest a CD filled with lyrical music written for that instrument: a Beethoven "Romance," perhaps, or Massenet's Thaïs "Meditation" -- an enticing prospect when the soloist is the gifted American violinist {|Joshua Bell|}. But instead, Bell offers an enchanting collection of arrangements of well-known melodies drawn from classical music at large -- from the realms of opera, song, and chamber music. Like a parade of great tunes, the album gathers music by Puccini ("O mio babbino caro"), Bellini ("Casta diva"), Gluck ("Dance of the Spirits"), and Monteverdi (the lovely "Pur ti miro") from the world of opera, and also samples familiar instrumental numbers by Debussy, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Mozart, and Borodin. Renditions of songs by Dvorák, Massenet, and Schubert fill out the collection, while Schumann's famous "Träumerei" wraps it up. Orchestrations from Craig Leon are sensitively performed by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and Bell's silky tone and singing style make for an exploration of the art of melody that charms through and through.