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The Double Bass - Encore! Robert Oppelt & Friends play works for double bass, violin, viola and piano | Bloch, Bottesini, Chambers, Clayton, Dragonetti, Koussevitzky, Penderecki and Shaffer
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About The Double Bass - Encore! Robert Oppelt & Friends
On my first CD, The Double Bass (MSR Classics, MS1221), I recorded works which are collaborations for bass and other instruments, along with the first six of the 12 Waltzes for Solo Double Bass by Domenico Dragonetti. With this new CD, I present the remaining six Dragonetti waltzes (Nos. 7-12), accomplishing my goal of issuing the first digital recording of the complete series. Rather than performing the waltzes consecutively, they appear between the featured works to 'cleanse the palate'. The Shaffer and Chambers pieces are premiere recordings as well. I play two double basses on this CD: a Testore (which I use in my orchestral work) on the pieces by Bloch, Chambers, Clayton, Dragonetti and Koussevitzky; and a Klotz with narrower shoulders, which makes it better suited for the Bottesini and Penderecki works. I employ traditional solo scordatura tuning for the pieces by Koussevitsky and Bloch. I am donating 25% of the net proceeds of this CD to the Anti-Defamation League. As a member of the National Symphony Orchestra, I have performed for the last 24 years in the annual ADL Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Each time, I am awed by the stories of the brave individuals who are honored by the ADL for being heroes in the fight against intolerance, extremism, and terrorism. [Robert Oppelt, June 2019] Robert Oppelt is Principal Bass with the National Symphony Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Born in Richmond, Kentucky, he began playing the piano and violin at an early age. His parents, both professional musicians, encouraged him to try the double bass when he was 15. He discovered an immediate affinity with the instrument. Oppelt attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts briefly in high school and later completed his Bachelor of Music degree there in three years. In 1982, at age 21, he auditioned for the National Symphony Orchestra and was invited by the eminent cellist and Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich to join the double bass section. He was promoted to Assistant Principal Bass in 1984, then to Principal Bass in 1996 by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. Oppelt has appeared as soloist with the NSO in performances of Mozart s Per Questa Bella Mano, Paganini s Moses Fantasy and Koussevitsky's Concerto for Double Bass. Chamber Music collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Hillary Hahn and the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. In addition, Oppelt taught his craft for 16 years at the University of Maryland. He plays more than 140 concerts a year and has toured throughout the United States and in 32 foreign countries with the NSO. He has performed at the White House for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
