With his Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority mulligan miles behind him, Joshua Bell is Skyping with me from his suite at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai.
As per usual when talking to the press, the world's greatest living violinist is in between rehearsals.
Yes, Bell has traveled to the United Arab Emirates to perform Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 at the Royal Opera House Muscat with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields--the storied British band, founded by Sir Neville Marriner in 1958, that Bell remains the only American to have led as both music director and conductor.
According to the Times of Oman (and despite offering no encore), Sunday night's concert was dubbed a "triumphant return" to the Al Kharjiyah State.
The last time I saw Josh Bell, myself, the violinist-cum-conductor was stage left of the Columbus Club with Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten.
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