At Home With Friends

Joshua Bell (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B002LMSWSC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,679 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Tango
  • #18 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Argentina

Editorial Reviews

At Home With Friends is inspired by Joshua Bell's fondness for hosting informal musicales in his Manhattan home. Join the Grammy Award-winning violinist as he celebrates the many musical friendships he has made over the years - a diverse group of artists sharing their love of music in an intimate setting. Features vocal and instrumental duets with Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenoweth, Regina Spektor and many others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Friends ..., September 29, 2009

By 

S. BRAUN (Fort Wayne, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At Home With Friends (Audio CD)

After listening to At Home With Friends by Joshua Bell, I found myself envious of Bell for having such great friends. The album features renowned violinist Bell performing duets with various musical friends of his: Josh Groban, Marvin Hamlisch, even Sting. There is a great variety of musical styles presented, but the overall feel of the album is relaxing.

My favorite is probably "My Funny Valentine" with Kristin Chenoweth. "Left Hand Song" with Regina Spektor struck me as very odd/"out there" the first few times, but it's growing on me the more I listen. It's a neat side of Sting to hear him perform the classical "Come Again."

All in all, quite a musical treat!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Compliation, September 29, 2009

By 

K. Borchert (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: At Home With Friends (Audio CD)

I grew up listening to my Dad playing the violin and my Mom playing the piano. I loved their duets. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for violins since then.
This album does not disappoint. I love the soulful tunes of Joshua Bell and his many talented friends. Two songs played with the bandoneon, Oblivion and Il Postino, really have captured my heart. I have never been to Paris or Italy, but I imagine this is the music of those beautiful places.
Kristin Chenoweth teams up with Joshua singing My Funny Valentine, one of my all time favorite songs. And Josh Groban singing Cinema Paradiso just takes my breath away.
My favorite piece though is Eleanor Rigby with Frankie Moreno. I had never heard of Frankie Moreno before this, but this fantastic arrangement of piano, vocals and violin had me as soon as it started.

This album is a great mix of classical, modern and international. You will not be disappointed in this album at all. I love it so much that I am going to buy a copy of it for my Dad for Christmas, and I am also going to buy more of Joshua Bell's work. Fantastic.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bell has an eclectic group of friends - sometimes too eclectic, November 9, 2009

By 

Steven I. Ramm "Steve Ramm "Anything Phon... (Phila, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At Home With Friends (Audio CD)

Bell is a a near genius when playing his violin and has enough power with the recording companies to make any project he wants. On this CD he tries to show the breadth of his musical interests from classical to jazz (smooth and mainstream); pop standards (Gershwin) and movie scores to world music. It may show off his talents but for most listeners it may be too broad a spectrum. While the tracks with Josh Grobman, Marvin Hamlisch and Kristin Chenoweth make nice background music, the NINE-minute duet with sitar player Anoushka Shankar, goes on way too long. (And this is the ABRIDGED version of the piece.).

While many of the artists who accompany Bell on the selections just might be his friends, Sergei Rachmaninoff obviously could not be one of them. Bell plays along with a re-performance of the legendary composer and pianist from a 1928 recording using the fascinating new Zenph computer system which transfers the performer's recording to a real piano. (Sony/BMG has two other CDs utilizing this process.). It works well here too.

This is obviously a "crossover" album similar to Yo-Yo Ma's CD of last year (which I found superior and play often. But if, by using these better known "friends" - like Sting and Grobman- Bell gets more folks interested in classical music, this certainly isn't a bad thing.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"