He’s a musical god, an ageless man-child that burst upon the national musical scene at 14 and made his first recording at 18. He plays the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius, which has an unbelievable history. (In 1936 it was stolen from backstage at Carnegie Hall and not recovered until 50 years later.) Joshua Bell, who doesn’t consider himself handsome, is so good-looking and so talented that it’s been said all the women want to marry him and all the men want to be him. Under the auspices of La Jolla Music Society, the legendary, the gifted, the handsome and the humble Bell will perform one of his favorite feats — the recital — before an adoring throng at Copley Symphony Hall at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19. If that’s not enough incentive to rush right out and purchase a ticket, Bell collaborates with longtime recital partner, pianist Jeremy Denk, who wowed Mainly Mozart Festival audiences last season. The New York Times’ Vivien Schweitzer wrote last February that they are “an ideally matched duo, with Mr. Denk’s fiery playing complementing Mr. Bell’s luxuriant singing tone.” The San Diego recital program comprises J.S. Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 4 in C minor; Camille Saint-Saëns’ Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D minor; Robert Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor; and Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, written in 1927. Bell says he enjoys chamber music more than anything and he looks forward each year to the month he devotes to recitals. He relishes the intimacy of the recital experience, playing a variety of works, talking to the audience and creating a musical journey, which he can’t do if he’s just playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto, much as he loves that work. As for programming, Bell says, “It’s tricky to find the right balance — a well-balanced meal, you might say. The pieces have to feel connected in a way. You can’t go wrong, starting with Bach, considering he’s connected with pretty much every composer after him.” Though Saint- Saëns sounds quite different, the link is the two composers’ connection with the organ and the fact that the French composer’s music is extremely classical in structure. “It’s the 200th anniversary of Schumann’s birth,” the violinist says, “so I thought it would be nice to include him.” The recital culminates in the Ravel work, noted for “its spicy harmonies and jazz elements.” Bell is a jazz aficionado, and in fact his most recent CD is a crossover album titled “Joshua Bell at Home with Friends,” featuring Chris Botti, Sting, Josh Groban, Kristin Chenoweth, Regina Spektor, Anoushka Shankar, Marvin Hamlisch and Tiempo Libre, among others. To Bell, music is just music and every artist is as serious about his/her music as so-called classical composers and musicians are. He says no one is more serious about music making than Tiempo Libre, then points to Ravel as an example of someone who took the jazz art form and made it his own. “It’s unmistakably his language in the blues, but it’s also unmistakably the blues,” he said. “It’s an amazing work and Ravel had incredible skill to do that. Nobody accused him of going crossover. It’s a more modern phenomenon to talk like that.” Like many violinists, Bell has an intimate relationship with his instrument, which he’s had for eight years and which he claims goes far beyond its monetary value ($4 million). The violin is as invaluable and irreplaceable as a child. He carries it around as if it were, and even has a violin doctor in New York to whom he takes it for regular checkups. “There are some days when I just want to get rid of it. It’s not working with me the way it should,” Bell said. “Then, four days later, I completely fall in love with it again, and it will start to cooperate, like this living thing.” For tickets and information, cal 459-3728 or visit www.ljms.org.