Oak Park Newspaper

Ladies in Lavender - Soundtrack
review by Ed Vincent

The music for the film "Ladies in Lavender" is written
by Nigel Hess and played by the young violinist
Joshua Bell, who may be on loan from Mount Olympus.

I don't know who to write about more, the composer
who did a wonderful job of putting together a richly
diverse sound of compositions or the gifted young
violinist, Mr. Bell. Joshua Bell is soon becoming one
of the world's best new violinists. He has done a fantastic
job with the work of Mr. Hess and Nigel Hess speaks
equally well of the playing by Joshua Bell. They are
not just being nice, they are being accurate and on
the mark.

The cd is a treat to listen to and the film is on my list
of must see and hear items in the future.

VIOLINIST JOSHUA BELL’S SOLOS HIGHLIGHT
THE SOUNDTRACK OF LADIES IN LAVENDER,
STARRING OSCAR WINNERS JUDI DENCH &
MAGGIE SMITH

SONY CLASSICAL CD RELEASED APRIL 26, 2005

Bell Featured Throughout Nigel Hess’s Original Score,
With The Composer Conducting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

After his acclaimed performances on the soundtracks of the Oscar-winning The Red Violin and Iris, violinist Joshua Bell is the featured soloist throughout composer Nigel Hess’s original score for the new film Ladies in Lavender (April ‘05) and on Sony Classical’s original soundtrack recording. Written and directed by Charles Dance, the film stars Oscar-winning English acting legends Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, and the rising young German actor Daniel Bruhl
(Good Bye, Lenin.’); it opens in New York and Los Angeles on April 29th, 2005. The film’s original soundtrack recording will be released
on Tuesday, April 26, 2005.

When Ladies in Lavender screened at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, critic Rex Reed hailed it in the New York Observer as “an unexpected joy ... the kind of small, touching, skillfully made filmed short story one rarely discovers these days, and I hope American moviegoers get an opportunity to discover it soon for themselves.” Music is central to the film’s drama, and Reed wrote of the closing moments, “By the time the music swells (courtesy of exquisite violin solos by Joshua Bell), sod o the tears in the eyes of everyone in the audience who can still find a pulse beat.”

“One of the fantastic things about working on this film is that we’ve had the celebrated violinist Joshua Bell playing,” composer Nigel
Hess says of the Ladies in Lavender soundtrack. “He takes the
music I’ve written to a whole new level. Hearing him play was like stepping into a really expensive Rolls Royce.”

Charles Dance’s acclaimed British film stars Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith as elderly sisters Janet (Smith) and Ursula Widdington (Dench), living in a quiet coastal town in Cornwall. After
a violent storm, they awake to find a young man, Andrea, (Daniel Bruhl) washed ashore and badly injured. Upon taking him in, his presence quietly invokes Ursula’s abandoned feelings of longing and Janet’s maternal instincts, while also arousing suspicion and fear in
the township during pre-war times in Europe. But throughout Andrea’s stay, the two sisters discover his true origins and his talents as a
gifted violinist, and they embark on a journey they had never
imagined for themselves.

Based on a short story by William Locke, Dance’s film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was well received as the Closing Night event at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

Ladies in Lavender is the third feature film for which Joshua Bell has performed on the soundtrack. Following his three-year involvement with The Red Violin, where he was responsible for all violin solo
music composed by John Corigliano, the score captured the Oscar
for Best Original Score. Bell also performs in composer James Homer’s score for the 2001 drama Iris, which also starred Judi
Dench. The soundtrack recordings of both The Red Violin and Iris
are available on the Sony Classical label.

The Ladies in Lavender soundtrack includes a track (Debussy’s
"The Girl With the Flaxen Hair”) from Romance of the Violin,
Bell’s best selling and most recent Sony Classical recording, which
is now also available as a Dual Disc. Romance of the Violin
was named No.1 Classical Album of 2004 by Billboard, which also
cited Bell as Classical Artist of the Year.

Bell continues an exciting new phase of his career this fall with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as an Artistic Partner. He will
appear again with the orchestra in his new role in September.

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