The Double Bass, Robert Oppelt and Friends – Encore!
You can get the CD at either of these two websites:
http://www.msrcd.com/catalog/cd/MS1731
In July of 2019 I put out a sequel to my previous CD. The new one is called The Double Bass, Robert Oppelt and Friends – Encore! My main goal was to finish recording all 12 of the Dragonetti Waltzes for solo double bass. There are a lot of notes there, especially, if one takes all of the repeats (as one should). These pieces are quite extraordinary, with dynamic leaps, bounds, and runs up and down. Dragonetti no doubt was inspired by his Italian fratello, Niccolò Paganini, in writing for the unaccompanied instrument. One shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that because the music lies mostly in the lower register that they are not virtuoso pieces. They totally are! The lower registers are physically challenging to manage, and the bowing technique requires full dexterity. Most importantly, the musician has to make them sing, dance, and be playful.
The works by Bottesini, Koussevitsky, and Bloch are standard fare for bassists, and very good music. When preparing these I avoided listening to other interpretations, but I’m sure it is really interesting to compare the many renditions which are out there. Different human beings feel things differently!
The Canto kind of takes me back to the late 1970s, as that is when my fellow students and I were messing with it at North Carolina School of the Arts. It’s actually pretty tricky to pull off. For one thing, you can’t vibrate and do left hand pizzicato at the same time, so, those notes are totally static. At the high point of the piece there are a few double stops in the high register which are nearly impossible to finger. For live performance one might take more time between them to set them up.
Bach to Blues brought a built-in jazz-classical connection. I enjoyed working it up and think it would be a great piece to keep handy. I recommend installing some jazz-friendly strings, as I did. (Thomastik Spirocore, Weich)
Classical composers like Sperger and Dittersdorf proved viola and bass are a good match, but how wonderful to have a contemporary piece like Fisherstreet Duo! The Lament for Jafran is deeply sad. What I think is effective is that it’s contrapuntal throughout, with the two voices always playing and balancing each other. Sometimes they move in contrary motion, other times their paths cross in a moment of unison. It finishes with the two voices at polar opposites - very powerful. The Barnacle and the Nautilus gets your blood pumping again, albeit gradually. You’ll notice some percussive sounds about halfway through. That’s me whacking my strings with a drumstick! I think Eric DeWaardt played his socks off here!
The Penderecki duo is top-notch, concise, and compelling throughout. Irina Muresanu is an incredible violinist and we had a blast performing this at UMD. It’s such an effective piece and requires virtuoso playing. Here’s a link to Irina’s website: https://www.irinamuresanu.com/
All of the music was recorded in Dekelbaum Concert Hall, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland. The 970 seat auditorium is gorgeous and the acoustics are fabulous. To fully appreciate the effort that went into this, you should listen to the CD on a very good stereo sound system. You can get a look into Dekelbaum here: