Double Bass Recordings To Listen To

[paul]

Since I have don't really have anything to do today, I thought that I might share some recordings of my favorite double bassists to give the bass some attention on this board. I always enjoy exposing the double bass to new listeners.


Mozart - Per Questa Bella Mano, K.612
Walter Berry, bass-baritone
Alois Posch, double bass
Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, Leopold Hager
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ncpqiv

Bottesini - Elegy in D
Thomas Martin, double bass
Anthony Halstead, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hhe61c

Boëllmann - Symphonic Variations, Op.23 (Originally for cello)
David Grossman, double bass
Steven Beck, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7ak0bn

Franck - Sonata in A (Originally for violin) - IV Allegretto poco mosso
Božo Paradžik, double bass
Ulrich Rademacher, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/f4xe7a

Françaix - Duo Baroque - I Allegro Vivace
Jeremy McCoy, double bass
June Han, harp
http://www.sendspace.com/file/pohoei

Perhaps more soon?

[paul]

Some biographies:

Alois Posch started studying violin and piano at the age of ten. At fifteen, he discovered that that contrabass was the right instrument for him. He entered the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst (Academy for Music and Allied Arts) in Graz. There he studied the instrument with Professor Johannes Auersperg. After winning prizes in competitions for younger musicians he obtained a position in the Vienna Philharmonic in 1977, at the age of eighteen. He is now the leader of the bass section and bass soloist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and of the Vienna State Opera. Since 1993 he has been a full professor at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellenden Kunst in Vienna.

He has a position as Guest Professor at the Mozarteum of Salzburg, and often plays as a guest soloist and chamber player. He has played on recordings released by Decca, Emi, Deutsche Gramophon, Sony, Philips, and EMI.He is among the group of players who frequently play solo roles in projects organized by the Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and thus participate frequently in Kremer's Lockenhaus Festival. Among his releases with Kremer is a chamber music version of compositions of the New Tango master Astor Piazzolla, on which Posch is the bass player and soloist.



One of the world's foremost double bass players, Thomas Martin studied double bass in America under Harold Roberts, Oscar Zimmerman and Roger Scott. He has held Principal positions with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St.Martin in the Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1990, he returned to the Principal position with the London Symphony Orchestra, with whom he appeared as soloist in concerts and recordings until he retired from orchestral playing in 1996.
In recent years he has been pursuing an ever increasing interest in solo playing, appearing regularly as a soloist in symphony and chamber orchestras, both in the UK and abroad. He has also made numerous television appearances and radio broadcasts, presenting a wide and varied repertoire from baroque to the twentieth century.

His current series of recordings of the music of Bottesini, the great nineteenth century virtuoso, have met with high acclaim in both broadcast and magazine reviews as well as from the public. His most recent recording was with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Franco Petracchi. His two recordings with Anthony Halstead were selected as Gramophone Record of the Year and the recording with Jose-Luis Garcia, Emma Johnson and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, was chosen as Sunday Times Record of the Year.

As a teacher, he is Senior Professor of Double Bass at the Guildhall School of Music in London. He is in constant demand to give master-classes and his students can be found all over the world. He is also responsible for numerous editions of music for the double bass, notably for International Music Corporation, New York. Often asked to serve as a jury member on international competitions, his most recent appearances were at the Koussevitsky Competition in Moscow, the Concorso Bottesini in Cremona, and the Concours de Genêve in Geneva.
Tom is (in his limited spare time!) a keen violin maker and is often seen playing on his own double bass.



David J. Grossman began playing with the New York Philharmonic as its youngest member in December 1999 before graduating from the Juilliard School in May 2000. Born into a musical family in New York City, David has performed as double bassist and pianist in orchestral, chamber, and jazz venues worldwide. In addition to performing, Mr. Grossman teaches double bass at the Manhattan School of Music where he most recently gave a solo recital on the Faculty Series in November of 2005.

An active chamber musician, David performs in both the New York Philharmonic's 92nd Street Y and Merkin Hall chamber music series and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.  In 2005 he was a featured artist in the Chamber Music by Lake Tuusula Festival in Finland as well as the Portland (Maine) Chamber Music Festival. As a composer, David wrote Mood Swings, a piece for trombone and double bass, for New York Philharmonic Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi; and composed Fantasy on "Shall We Gather at the River?" for New York Philharmonic English Horn Thomas Stacy's recording, Plaintive Melody. Two earlier compositions, Swing Quartet and String Quintet No. 1, were written for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In the realm of jazz, David was a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio whose 1996 Columbia recording Time & Circumstance was listed in the "best top ten jazz CDs of the year" in both Time Magazine and The New York Times.   He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis, Lew Tabackin, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Richard Stoltzman and recorded with David Morgan and Loston Harris. Bringing together both his classical and jazz interests, David performed in an impromptu jazz ensemble during a week of joint concerts with the New York Philharmonic and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, culminating in a Live From Lincoln Center telecast and radio broadcast.



Born in Zagreb, Božo Paradžik received his first lessons at the age of 13. Already before graduating from the Prague Music Academy he was off ered his fi rst position as solo double bass player at the Residentie Orchester, Den Haag, in 1991. He later joined the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart.

Božo Paradžik is first and foremost known for his solo work. At the age of 16 he made his fi rst recordings for the then Yugoslav broadcasting association. Between 1996 and 2001 Paradžik recorded a series of CDs for the SWR. He achieved worldwide fame with his solo CD for the EMI label, the only CD ever to have been recorded with works for solo double bass.

As a soloist Božo Paradžik has appeared with many orchestras and chamber music partners in the musical centres of Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and the entire «ex-Yugoslavia». His artistic achievements have been honoured highly, thus Paradžik is the recipient of the rarely awarded Generation Prize of the Prague Music Academy and «Orlando», a prize conferred by the Croatian Radio and Broadcasting Association for the most outstanding appearance at the international summer festival in Dubrovnik in 2002.



Jeremy McCoy is Assistant Principal Double Bass of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra where he has been a member since 1985. After attending the Curtis Institute of Music, from which he received a Bachelor of Music, Mr. McCoy began his career with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in his native Ottawa, Canada. Apart from his orchestral duties, Mr. McCoy is active as soloist, chamber musician and commercial session player. He has performed on recital series in New York and on CBC Radio and has been a concerto soloist at the National Arts Centre, with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra and Musica Viva of New York. Mr. McCoy has performed at several summer festivals including Marlboro, Banff the Grand Tetons and Kneisel Hall and has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Cleveland and Tokyo string quartets. He has taught at Japan's Affinis Festival, is currently on the faculty of the Bowdoin International Music Festival and is an associate faculty member at Columbia University. As a performer of new music, Mr. McCoy appears regularly with the New York groups Sequitur, Speculum Musicae and Ensemble Sospeso and has recorded for Koch Classics, CRI, Albany and Mode Records. Mr. McCoy  was winner of the 1990 Olga Koussevitsky Competition and has been the recipient of awards from the Canada Council.

[Maciek]

Thanks, Paul!

You might like what I've posted here.

[bhodges]

One of my favorites is also one of the most hilarious (and demanding) works for bass I've ever seen, called Failing: a very difficult piece for string bass (1975), by Tom Johnson.  Here is a performance on YouTube by a bassist in Austin, Texas (name is Jace, I think).  The volume is a little low but the impact still comes across.

It's also played by Robert Black on this CD from Bang on a Can:



--Bruce

[paul]

One of my favorites is also one of the most hilarious (and demanding) works for bass I've ever seen, called Failing: a very difficult piece for string bass (1975), by Tom Johnson.  Here is a performance on YouTube by a bassist in Austin, Texas (name is Jace, I think).  The volume is a little low but the impact still comes across.

It's also played by Robert Black on this CD from Bang on a Can:



--Bruce

That piece is really great. Intelligent and funny. I love Robert Black's recording of it. Ed Barker (principal of the Boston Symphony) also has a recording, but it doesn't come off as well. That bass player on youtube did a pretty good job of it.

[paul]

Fauré - Elegy in A Minor, Op.24 (Originally for cello)
Duncan McTier, double bass
Kathron Sturrock, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kprt66

Koussevitzky - Concerto in F-sharp Minor, Op.3
Eugene Levinson, double bass
Gina Levinson, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1yjsox

Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata D.821 - I Allegro moderato
Ed Barker, double bass
Warren Jones, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mx35rc

Rautavaara - Angel of Dusk; Concerto for Double Bass - I His First Apperance
Esko Laine, double bass
Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g5vlwz

Hindemith - Sonata for Double Bass and Piano - I Allegretto
Dan Styffe, double bass
Gonzalo Moreno, piano
http://www.sendspace.com/file/sz5i1u


More bios:

Since winning the 1982 Isle of Man International Double Bass Competition, Duncan McTier has established a reputation as one of the world's foremost double bass soloists and teachers. His performances in major concert halls and at festivals such as Bath and Kuhmo have inspired a host of superlatives from critics.

Duncan McTier has appeared as soloist in more than twenty countries, with many leading orchestras, including the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English and Scottish Chamber Orchestras, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw and Lausanne Chamber Orchestras with conductors Matthias Bamert, Andrew Litton, Sergiu Comissiona, Paavo Järvi and Heinrich Schiff. He has made more than fifty solo recordings for radio, television and record companies, including Philips, Denon and Collins Classics, for whom he recorded Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Strathclyde Concerto No.7. His Tarantella CD, with pianist Kathron Sturrock, was described in The Strad as containing "some of the most refined bass playing you are ever likely to hear" and voted one of Classic CD magazine's "Choices of the Month". Two more CDs, Capriccio and Sonata, have since been released to much critical acclaim.

Born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, Duncan McTier obtained a degree in mathematics at Bristol University before joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After seven years as principal bass of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, he returned to England to concentrate on a career as soloist and chamber musician. Composers who have written works especially for him include Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Robin Holloway, John Casken, John Hawkins and Gavin Bryars, whose concerto he premièred in 2002 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Duncan McTier is Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Hochschule Musik und Theater Zürich, in Winterthur. He gives masterclasses all over the world and holds a summer course at the Academie de Musique in Sion, Switzerland. Honours awarded him include Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music and Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music. He is a member of the Nash Ensemble and the Fibonacci Sequence, and has collaborated with many of the world's most distinguished string quartets and artists such as Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell, Nobuko Imai and Artur Pizarro.



Eugene Levinson enjoys a unique career as a world-class soloist and as Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic since May 1985, in addition to being one of the foremost and world-renowned double bass teachers.

Mr. Levinson was born in Kiev and began his musical studies at the age of nine. He graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory, where he later received his doctoral degree and was, at the age of 29, the youngest member to be appointed to this illustrious institution's faculty. For 13 years, Mr. Levinson was the principal bass of the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Leningrad Philharmonic for nearly 16years. During this period, he made many solo and ensemble appearances on U.S.S.R. radio and television, in addition to releasing three recordings on the Melodiya Records label.

In 1977 Eugene Levinson became the principal bass of the Minnesota Orchestra as well as a featured soloist. He released his first U.S. recording under the Pro Arte label, featuring the Franck Sonata in A major and works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky. Each of these compositions was transcribed and edited by Mr. Levinson for the bass and recorded with his wife, the pianist Gina Levinson. These recordings sold out in record time, especially in Asia, where they are expected to be re-released. In June 1996 Eugene Levinson released New York Legends under the Cala Records label.

Since his arrival in the United States in 1977, Mr. Levinson has also been on the faculty of the Indiana University Summer School, and has been an annual faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival and School since 1979. He has been a member of the bass department faculty of The Juilliard School since 1985, where he has championed a number of new works that were written for him by prominent composers associated with Juilliard. He was co-chairman of the bass department from 1992 to 2002.

Mr. Levinson has appeared frequently as soloist with the New York Philharmonic since joining the Orchestra in 1985. In 1986 he performed Koussevitzky's Bass Concerto under the direction of Zubin Mehta; the work was subsequently recorded with other compositions performed by the New York Philharmonic's principal players. In November 1996 Mr. Levinson performed the New York Philharmonic premiere of Eduard Tubin's Bass Concerto, under the direction of Kurt Masur. And in January 2004 he performed the bass obbligato part in the New York Philharmonic premiere of Mozart's Bass Concert Aria, "Per questa bella mano," K.612, with bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, conducted by Riccardo Muti. The concert was broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center, broadcast on PBS.




Edwin Barker is recognized as one of the most gifted bassists on the American concert scene. Acknowledged as an accomplished solo and ensemble player, Mr. Barker has concertized in North America, Europe, and the Far East.

Mr. Barker has performed and recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Chamber Players and Collage, a Boston-based contemporary music ensemble. He is also a frequent guest performer with the Boston Chamber Music Society at NEC's Jordan Hall. He gave the world premiere of James Yannatos' Bass Concerto – written especially for him – with Alea III and subsequently performed it with Collage. He was the featured soloist for the New England premiere of Gunther Schuller's Bass Concerto, conducted by the composer, with the Boston Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Barker's major teaching affiliations include the Tanglewood Music Center, Boston University and New England Conservatory.

Mr. Barker graduated with honors from New England Conservatory in 1976, where he studied double bass with Henry Portnoi. That same year, while a member of the Chicago Symphony, he was appointed at age twenty-two to the position of principal double of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Barker continues to tour and perform internationally with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Players.

Mr. Barker was invited to inaugurate the One-Hundredth Anniversary Season of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with performance of Koussevitzky's Bass Concerto, a performance the Boston Globe praised as having possessed "everything that makes great artistry – tone, technical equipment, temperament, repose, a keen sense of rhythm, and fine conception." Other solo engagements include appearances at Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall, the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall's "Sweet and Low" series, and recitals at major universities and conferences throughout the world. His other engagements have included solo appearances with the Boston Classical Orchestra as well as with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and in Europe. In July 1995, Mr. Barker was chosen by Sir Georg Solti to lead the bass section of the United Nations's "Musicians of the World" orchestra, an ensemble comprised of prominent musicians from the world's finest orchestras.

Mr. Barker's solo CD recordings include Three Sonatas for Double Bass on Boston Records and James Yannatos's Variations for Solo Contrabass on Albany Records. His other double bass teachers have included Peter Mercurio, Richard Stephan, and Angelo LaMariana.




Esko Laine was born in 1961 in Helsinki and studied at Hyvinkää Conservatory. When he was eighteen years old, he obtained a post at the Finland National Opera Orchestra, and he left it to study with Günter Klaus and Franco Petracchi. He won several international prizes such as Isle of Man, Markneukirchen, and the ARD International Music Competition.

In 1986 he joined at Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and became the first Finnish musician to obtain a post there. His way of playing has inspired many composers to write double bass works. Esko Laine is a professor at Hans Eisler Musikhochschule Berlin. He was a professor in several European youth orchestras and he usually gives master classes.In chamber music, he is guest at many festivals and a member of ensembles Alia Musica from Berlin and Kerberos from Finland.




Dan Styffe is a central figure in Norwegian musical life. Although born in Sweden, his professional career has been entirely based in Norway. He studied with Göran Nyberg and Knut Guettler, and then with Gary Karr at the Hartt School of Music in the United States. He worked as Karr's assistant in 1981 -82 before his engagement as principal Double Bass at the Norwegian Opera Orchestra in 1982. Five years later Styffe took up a position as the Co-Principal Double Bassist in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Dan Styffe is also Principal Double Bass for the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. He teaches at the Barratt-Due Institute in Oslo and the Norwegian Academy of Music. Styffe has worked in a number of European countries and in the USA as a chamber-musician and soloist. He is a popular performer at many music festivals and has taken part in numerous CD recordings.

[Greta]

One of my favorites is also one of the most hilarious (and demanding) works for bass I've ever seen, called Failing: a very difficult piece for string bass (1975), by Tom Johnson.  Here is a performance on YouTube by a bassist in Austin, Texas (name is Jace, I think).  The volume is a little low but the impact still comes across.

What a clever piece! I love that.  And terribly hard to bring off. He mentioned in the text he was supposed to improvise part of it, but I wasn't sure if he did. If so he achieved because it was hard to tell!

My favorite YouTube bass video is Bassiona Amorosa playing Czardas with Maxim Vengerov. Roman Patkolo's bass playing is just sick there, completely insane. Gorgeous tone and lyrical playing too. I love the bass as a solo instrument, it has such a rich, colorful sound. I like jazz bassists a lot too, especially Christian McBride and Dave Holland.

Paul, thanks for those links, do you have a recording of the John Harbison Concerto for Bass Viol and Orchestra? It was premiered down here but I was out of the country then and always meant to try to look it up on a broadcast.

[Rabin_Fan]

I first heard Failing live with Gary Karr. He's magnificent. Wonder what happened to him (Gary)? Anyone know?

[paul]

Paul, thanks for those links, do you have a recording of the John Harbison Concerto for Bass Viol and Orchestra? It was premiered down here but I was out of the country then and always meant to try to look it up on a broadcast.

I wish that I had a broadcast of the piece. Ed Barker will be playing it with the BSO on August 3rd at Tanglewood, but I don't think I'll be able to get up there. Hopefully I'll find a place that's broadcasting the performance so I can capture it. I've heard bad things about the piece from everyone I've talked to that's been to one of the joint-premieres around the country, but Ed Barker is such a great musician that I'm sure he'll make it enjoyable to some degree. If anyone has a recording of one of the performances so far please let me know! I'm also on the lookout for Andre Previn's double concerto for violin and bass that was premiered this season by the BSO with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Roman Patkolo.

I first heard Failing live with Gary Karr. He's magnificent. Wonder what happened to him (Gary)? Anyone know?

Gary Karr retired from the concert stage not too long ago and lives in Canada where he continues to record. I have so much respect for him and what he's done for the role of the bass, but his playing doesn't really make any sense to me. He has so much natural talent, but he plays the double bass in such a strange way by playing almost over the bridge with very little rosin and a slow bow stroke with huge, slow vibrato at all times in all registers. This makes listening to him unbearable most of the time, but occasionally he'll shine through and do something really amazing. Probably the best recording of his is the Henze concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra with Henze conducting.

[Maciek]

Just a heads up: I've posted a Double Bass Concerto by Cwojdziński (whoever that is) in the Broadcast Corner.

[m_gigena]

What about Ludwig Streicher's Nightmare of double bassist? I'm really sorry I don't have a recording to share, I heard it several times on the radio and enjoyed it a lot.

[Mark]

Or how about Rossini's (Orch. Benedek) 'Une Larme' For Double Bass?

[paul]

Thank you for uploading that concerto Maciek. I've never even heard of it or the composer and found it to be a very nice work, interesting that it was written in 1959. I'm a big fan of Furtok's playing.


By request:


Bottesini - Capriccio di Bravura
http://www.sendspace.com/file/fbn6g4

Rinat Ibragimov, double bass
Elena Filonova, piano


Streicher - Fiebertraum eines Kontrabassisten
http://www.sendspace.com/file/fo7z7u

Ludwig Streicher, double bass
Astrid Spitznagel, piano


Rossini - Une Larme pour Basse
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7ffmy5

Duncan McTier, double bass
Kathron Sturrock, piano

[Grazioso]

Where is Edgar Meyer?? Virtuoso bassist and a respected composer, to boot.

[paul]

Sure, why not:

J.S. Bach - Two Part Invention #6 In E, BWV 777
http://www.sendspace.com/file/i4rtvg

Edgar Meyer, double bass
Béla Fleck, banjo

And as requested, another upload of the original Per Questa Bella Mano post: http://www.sendspace.com/file/2b9a3o

[toledobass]

Sure, why not:

J.S. Bach - Two Part Invention #6 In E, BWV 777
http://www.sendspace.com/file/i4rtvg

Edgar Meyer, double bass
Béla Fleck, banjo

And as requested, another upload of the original Per Questa Bella Mano post: http://www.sendspace.com/file/2b9a3o

Thanks Paul,

Allan

[paul]

No problem. If you have any requests I'll probably be able to help you out. Do you by any chance play with the Toledo Symphony? I studied with Barton Dunning for three summers when I was younger at this music camp at Maine. He's a great guy and wonderful player, I just wish I cared about bass at that point in my life.

[toledobass]

I am in fact a member of the Toledo Orchestra and of course know Bart as well as his wife, Sally.  He's been doing that festival in Maine for some time now.  Sally was describing it to me last spring because I was going to be on the coast of Maine.  It sounds like an amazing place to hang out for the summer. 

Anything Striecher plays would be great if you're up for it. 


Do you have the McTier Strathclyde? I'm working on getting a Dimoff/Quasthoff Per Questa so if it every actually comes to be I'll let you know and get it to you somehow.


Allan 

[paul]

It was a great experience and a lot of the people I met there I still see frequently. My sister just went there this summer for percussion and enjoyed it too, so it's nice to see that it's still going strong.

I do have that McTier recording and I'll upload it sometime tonight. I have two CDs by Ludwig Streicher, one with encores and the other an all Bottesini disc, and then some random transfers from recordings that I've gotten from various people including my teacher that vary in quality. I'll upload a few things along with the Strathclyde concerto. The one record that I wish I could do a proper transfer for myself is with the Dittersdorf second concerto (with Gruber cadenzas!), Per Questa Bella Mano, and the Dittersdorf Sinfonia Concertante. It's probably the best recording of the Dittersdorf concerto up with Georg Hörtnagel's great recording.

I saw Max and Thomas Quasthoff play Per Questa at Carnegie Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra last season and it was amazing. Max Dimoff is definitely one of my favorite American double bass players and it was such a great experience hearing that piece live.

[M forever]

I looked up the Toledo Symphony website, but they don't have a list of orchestra members on there! How many bass players do you have?