I'm a little surprised at people here who claim to be classical music aficionados and yet haven't heard of him. I would have guessed it's hard to know enough to be able to name more than two or three classical violinists and not know who Bell is.
But I think that's beside the point, because I don't think the premise is that people "should" have recognized Bell as a celebrity. The naive hope is rather that people can recognize great art when they encounter it.
But I think that's beside the point, because I don't think the premise is that people "should" have recognized Bell as a celebrity. The naive hope is rather that people can recognize great art when they encounter it.