Composer: Vincenzo Bellini, Giovanni Bottesini, Frédéric François Chopin, Sergey Koussevitzky, Jules Emile Frederic Massenet, Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Puccini, Alexander Scriabin, Federico Moreno Torroba
Performer: Michael Rieber, Götz Schumacher
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Es-Dur
Catalogue: ES2063
Release: 2017
Size: 596 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Puccini: Tosca, Act III
01. E lucevan le stelle (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
02. Bottesini: Introduction et variations sur le carnaval de Venice
Massenet: Thaïs, Act II
03. Méditation (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
Scriabin: 3 Pieces, Op. 2
04. No. 1, Etude in C-Sharp Minor (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
05. Koussevitzky: Chanson triste, Op. 2
Koussevitzky: 2 Morceaux, Op. 1
06. Valse miniature, Op. 1, No. 2
Chopin: Prelude No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 28
07. No. 4 (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
08. Bottesini: Capriccio à la Chopin
Bellini: Norma, Act I
09. Casta diva (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
10. Bottesini: Fantasia on Bellini’s La sonnambula
Puccini: Manon Lescaut, Act II
11. In quelle trine morbide (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Book 2, Op. 30
12. No. 9 in E Major, Op. 30, No. 3, MWV U104 [arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano]
13. Bottesini: Nel cor più non mi sento (Arietta di G. Paisiello)
Torroba: La maravilla, Act III
14. Romanza. Amor, vida de mi vida (Arr. M. Rieber for double bass and piano)
Unlike the protagonist in Patrick Süskind’s celebrated play ‘The Double Bass’, nobody can accuse Michael Rieber, principal double bass with the NDR Symphony Orchestra, of having a fraught relationship with his instrument. This recording, made with his musical partner Götz Schumacher on piano, is testimony to his tremendous musical enthusiasm and sensitivity.
At the heart of this very personal selection of works are arrangements from Italian operatic arias such as ‘E lucevan le stele’ from Puccini’s Tosca and ‘Casta Diva’ from Bellini’s tragedy Norma. The disc also includes four bravura pieces by the opera composer and double bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini, among them the title track ‘Il Carnevale di Venezia’.
The operatic theme is complemented by arrangements of the Scriabin Étude Op. 2/1 for piano, Chopin’s Prélude Op. 28/4, Song without Words Op. 109 by Felix Mendelssohn, and two original miniatures, Chanson Triste Op. 2 and Valse Miniature Op.1/2, by Serge Koussevitzky.