Most Bottesini CDs are miserable: a hapless double bass player grinding away excruciatingly at what sounds like impossibly empty, virtuosic trash, usually accompanied by a second rate pianist or a third rate provincial orchestra. This disc could not be more different. Rick Stotijn is a first rate virtuoso, a real master of his instrument. Many of the works here are arrangements, granted, but they are invariably well made, respectful of the originals, superbly played by world class artists, and chosen so as to demonstrate that Bottesini was not an empty-headed noodler on his unwieldy instrument, but a musician of wide-ranging taste and genuine culture. For proof of this, look no farther than the Grande Allegro di Concerto “Alla Mendellsohn,” composed under the spell of the opening movement of Mendellsohn’s famous Violin Concerto, here effectively arranged for double bass and string quartet (sound clip below). Or consider the passionate song for mezzo soprano, double bass, and piano “Tutto che il mondo serra,” with its accompaniment drawn from a Chopin etude.
No, there is more to Bottesini than meets the eye, or ear. Other highlights from this delectably chosen program include the opening Grand Duo Concertante for Violin, Double Bass and String Orchestra (in this arrangement), with Liza Ferschtman joining Stotijn as a more than able partner; the Capriccio di Bravura for Double Bass and String Quintet, and finally the powerful and well-wrought Due Concertant with string orchestra on themes from Bellini’s “I Puritani” in which Stotijn teams up with cellist Monika Leskovor. Note that this is the only work on the program that falls into the operatic “greatest hits” class. In all of the orchestral works Candida Thompson leads the always splendid Amsterdam Sinfonietta and also takes lead violin in the works with chamber accompaniments. As usual with this label, the SACD surround sonics are outstanding, save perhaps in the two songs, where pianist Hans Eijsackers and Rick Stotijn tend to overpower Rick’s sister Christianne. Still, as a splendid recital and a revelatory portrait of a much-maligned composer, this disc stands in a class all its own.
