Classical Bassist Niek de Groot Plays “The Sonatas”
Leading classical double bassist Niek de Groot has joined with pianist Catherine Klipfel to release The Sonatas, featuring performances of works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Paul Hindemith and P?teris Vasks. The album also includes de Groot’s arrangement of Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for piano and cello in E minor, op.38.
deGroot, a senior professor at Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany, has devoted himself to chamber music and solo performance. His primary instrument is an Amati double bass made in Cremona, Italy, in 1680.
Although this piece isn’t on the album, you can get an idea of what de Groot and Klipfel can do as they perform Enrique Granados – Goyescas’ “Intermezzo”:
The Sonatas is available on CD and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).
The Sonatas Track List:
- Brahms: Sonata for piano and violoncello in E minor, Op. 38
- Gubaidulina: Sonata for double bass and piano
- Hindemith: Sonata for double bass and piano
- Vasks: Sonata for solo double bass
I would really like to just touch a bass like this , it was a huge double bass that inspired me to play bass when I was a kid. One pluck of that huge bass amazed me.