A Mendelssohn-inspired double bass performance from James Oesi

Against the backdrop of Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam, double bassist James Oesi and pianist Andrea Vasi perform the work by the legendary champion of the double bass and its repertoire, Giovanni Bottesini.

Bottesini wrote a wealth of solo repertoire for double bass, including two concertos and numerous shorter pieces, but this Allegro Di Concerto ’Alla Mendelssohn’ is the first work Oesi has recorded by the composer.

’This is one of Bottesini’s most spectacular pieces, based on the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. I have been inspired by this piece since childhood, but it was only a few years ago that I started studying and performing it myself,’ says Oesi.

Oesi was born in London and raised in South Africa. He moved to Moscow at the age of 16 to study double bass, before settling in the Netherlands in 2009. He is the founder and artistic director of the Dutch Double Bass Festival and has appeared as a soloist at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Concertgebouw Brugge, MIRY Concertzaal (Brugge), North Sea Jazz Festival, November Music Festival, Wonderfeel Festival and Gent Festival.

He plays on an 1872 bass by Giusseppe Baldantoni, a luthier known for his guitar-shaped instruments.

Oesi was interviewed in The Strad’s August 2024 feature on a new generation of bass players; read the article here.

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