Klaus Stoll - Romantic Highlights (1984)

Serge Koussevitzky (1874—1951), whose achievements as conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra were legendary long before his death, and whose championing of new American music has never been equaled by other conductors, began his career as a performer on the largest member of the viol family, the double bass. In 1898 he appeared as double bass soloist in Berlin, and later years again, accompanied by the Berlin Phil Orchestra under Direction of Arthur Nikisch. Koussevitzky composed a concerto for Double bass and three more short virtuosy works. Two of them the Valse miniature and the Humoresque, were often performed by himself. The first double bass recordings in the history are by Koussevitzky with RCA-Victor LE 1 and RCA-Victor LCT 1145.

Reinhold Gliere (1875—1956) the Russian composer, wrote a lot of ballet-music and operas. He was in friendship relation to Serge Koussevitzky, and attracted by his outstanding virtuosity on the contrabass Gliere composed the Intemezzo for Koussevitzky’s repertoire, which is one piece of a series of four works for contrabass & piano by Gliere’s hand.

Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889), the top ranking bassplayer of the 19th century in the world, also moved his career to be a conductor in his later years. So he premiered Giuseppe Verdi’s opera AIDA in Cairo in honour of the opening the Suez channel in 1871. Bottesini composed a large number of works for Contrabass which are known as the highest criteria of virtuosy playing on that instrument. The Reverie is influenced by Verdi’s music, and the contrabass takes chance to show its beautiful cantability.

Emilio Salza (life dates unknown) was a Contrabassplayer and composer in Italy in the beginning of our century. His Improwiso for contrabass & piano stands in the colour of Ottorino Respighi’s works, and seems to be a short impressionism dream.

Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch (1838-1920) is written as a religious phrase for the jewish Jom Kippur day.

With an Interpretation by Contrabass we can feel a close relation to a temple-singers voice with its rich modulations.

Three famous works, the Romance No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Elegie by Gabriel Faure, and the Polacca by the Polish romantic composer Sigismund Noskowski are adapted here the first time for Contrabass & piano, and as a very amazing attraction, to show the ability of a magnificent double bass, made by Giovanni Grancino in the 17th century and its player, Klaus Stoll.

Klaus Stoll was born in 1943, and as pupil of his father Karl Stoll and later Heinz Detering he became as a professional in age of 15. In 1965 he joined the Berlin Phil Orchestra and two years later moved up to become the leader of the double bass section here. The same year he started his career as soloist. Although the emphasis of Stoll’s repertoire is on the classic and romantic music of Germany and Italy, he has so far given premiere performances of some 50 new compositions. During his career Stoll appeared in all the world’s major music centres, under them five concert-tours into Japan, and performances in Vienna, London, Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Salzburg etc. at least more than 40 recitals in Berlin, thereunder two times accompanied by the Berlin Phil Orchestra.

Since 1979 Stoll becomes as a professor at the Hochschule der Kiinste in Berlin.

- Источник оцифровки: автор новости (plastinka/nickhome)
- Класс состояния винила: NM-
- Устройство воспроизведения: Электроника ЭП-017С
- Картридж: Audio-Technica AT440MLa
- Предварительный усилитель: Cambridge Audio Azur 551P
- АЦП: ESI Julia
- Обработка: ручное удаление щелчков
- Формат записи (Bit/kHz): 32 float/96