Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Paul Hindemith, Antonio Vivaldi :: Three Sonatas for Double Bass

Excellent Technique and Feel for the Musical Periods

M. R. | United States | 12/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Technically speaking, this is a very excellent recording: the CD manages to capture the sound of the players nearly perfectly, a difficult task given the range of the bass. I was impressed by the flawless balance between Edwin Barker and his accompanists throughout.Mr. Barker's performance is also topnotch: he gets a very mellow, natural, and most importantly clear sound from his instrument, even in the most difficult technical passages in Schubert's 'Arpeggione' Sonata, a piece of near legendary difficulty on the bass. In parts, it sounds almost as if he were even playing a higher-pitched instrument. Furthermore, in addition to his own obvious skill, he has some extremely good accompanists: the nuance in the piano interludes in the Schubert are especially well done. The rendition of Sonata #3 by Vivaldi is probably the most unique performance on the disc. In a transcription from 'cello original done by the performer, Mr. Barker adds a baroque 'cello doubling the harpsichord as continuo, uses next to no vibrato, and includes a fair deal of embellishment in the repeated sections, providing a nice period effect and clearly distinguishing this from most other recordings of the piece. In some ways, this causes the piece to come across as slightly dry. However, while Anner Byslma offers a nice rendition of this piece on 'cello, I've yet to find a better recording for contrabass.I highly recommend this disc."