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Double Bass Top 5 Orchestral Bassists

#86
Bmason: Thanks for the Colin video!!!!! He is such a sweetheart, and yes, a mother of a player. When we were at IU he was kicking a hole in it already, and he has done us all proud ever since.

Arguably, there is a stylistic difference between New World and Old World orchestral playing, and I personally really enjoyed the masterclass in question, and hearing a different approach to old familiar favorites.

Really. Am I the only one that found value in his playing? Are any of the critics here of that video honestly working on that level?

FWIW, that Mozart lick is a nightmare for anyone.:hmm:
 
#87
I have Rinat's Bottesini CD, prolly my favorite interpretations of Bottesini aside from another Eastern European player named Alexander Michno. (He's one classy dude). It cracks me up to no end this thread going on about how incompetent or blah, blah, blah he is. I've had the opportunity to see him play with the LSO and he was kicking a whole bunch of @$$. Mahler 8.

The funniest part of this is that there are so few orchestral players that I have had the opportunity to hear just play licks from the literature that really all of this thread is a bit silly to me. Isn't the point of being in an orchestra not to stick out but work together? If I went and saw Boston and just heard Ed wailing, I'd be inclined to ask for my money back. But in my experience, all the really pro orchestras have sections that sound like a section and not a bunch a dudes trying to sound louder than each other. Getting an orchestral job is hard, damn hard and anyone who does it is to be congratulated. Anyone who keeps one should be congratulated further. That's right keeps it, as many of you know getting the job is just part of it. Your job is always in danger if you begin to slack one bit.

London is one of my favorite orchestras. Their sound is tight,focused and precise. The bass section slays. In a Double Bassist magazine a while back, Rinat talks about Tom Martin personally calling him to let him know about the audition. I think that says a lot. Threads like this always bring out the catty remarks that europeans say is synonymous with americans. It's too bad.
 
#89
Forgive my ignorance but I don't follow these guys like they're baseball players, however I am interested to learn more.

It seems like what some of you are saying is that the Principal from LSO is not as good as a player as the principal in Rochester and Minnesota, I am hearing that correctly? Or is it just a criticism of the youtube video?

I may not have the ear that many of you have but I am curious as to how you can while listening to a symphonic work, not only hear the bass section clearly but single out a single player. And then on top of it be able to compare them to a player in another section.

Are there allot of you who travel the world to listen live and attend masterclasses? Or is this reputation?

Thanks guys! As always this stuff is very educational.
 
#90
BMason said:
I think this was requested:


I would say that is orchestral playing at its finest. Casual recording, more informal than the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Masterclass videos. That is what it takes.
Click to expand...


Holy Moly! Ive seen these videos before, but I had never watched his bow. His string crossings in those excerpts are brilliant. That's a skill that takes years of practice and makes all the difference in some pieces.
 
#95
The problem in this discussion is there are logical jumps being made that only make sense if the person typing them is upset! Everyone keeps saying, "so what you're saying is" instead of reading the posts. It's perfectly valid to assess someone else's playing if they are better at it than you. If not, there would be an entire generation of bass players saying, "I have no idea how well Gary Karr plays, and I can't understand what makes Edgar Meyer sound so damn good." it would mean that critics held no power unless they had been conductors of fine orchestras.
Obviously, this is not the case, and there is no playing criteria for making assessments of someone's bass playing. Maybe on Brandon's best day, and on Rinat's best day, there would be some difference in ability. Because of this, we are likely to then conclude that Rinat's bad day might still be superior to Brandon's bad day, and it's not outrageous to think Rinat's bad day could even be superior, what with his credentials and all.
Needless to say, it is assumed that someone with a job has fewer and less severe bad days. Also, someone in his position should probably have great skill in quality control, and would be able to decide if his product was on a level he was comfortable presenting in such a potent medium as YouTube.
So what is so unreasonable about a student appraising a professional? I think it is myopic to focus on Brandon's delivery and not to acknowledge the constantly growing standard against which young players need to hold the pros because our goal is to surpass them!
 
#97
Well, BMason, you've offered one orchestra principal playing orchestra excerpts to counter my offer and I appreciate it.

I like him too and will put him on my top 5 as well.

But I think you (or whoever wishes to do so) have at least 4 more orchestra principals on Youtube to go if you want to put up a serious challenge to my offering.
 
#98
I will say that I have heard maybe one bassist ever play the Beethoven 9th excerpt without my discerning some questionable intonation at times...and that definitely includes myself when I record it for a self-check.

It's a very challenging excerpt! Easy to pick apart, dissect, and criticize from a lot of different angles...as well as a great excerpt to show one's musical ability.
 

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