Double bassist Vito Liuzzi sent me a link to this excellent performance of the Rossini Duetto featuring the incomparable bassist Franco Petracchi with Italian cellist Vittorio Ceccanti:
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Dear Jason,
I’ve posted you this video about the great italian Maestro Franco PETRACCHI, the first doublebass player that has changed the old conception of a doublebass with a new one that you can read and study in his book “The higher simplified technique”. I hope you can be interested also in the other two video I talked you about.
Maestro Petracchi, like Tom Martin, like Rabbath, or Gary Karr and all the other masters of the xx Century has gived us less discography that one can think. So every event marked by Petracchi is a unique event. He always says: “The real concertist is the one who plays on line”. We can say a lot of think about this concept. Petracchi could record all Bottesini’s works, Henze and so on, but probably he likes to much “teaching”. If you give a look to his students all over the world the number is impressive (all the names are in his website).
But if you use a french technique (I call it “the italian technique” borned with Petracchi who uses the right thumb in the “u” – look the photo into my little web site) and you would like to achieve the exact movements, Franco Petracchi is a Master under thi point of view. Look at the video: elegance and great sound, fluid movements. Great!
But now in Italy we are in a very important period.
Maestro Petracchi has decided to confirm and leave his main position in Conservatory of Geneva to a young talented doublebass players called ALBERTO BOCINI (look at TheBassGang). It’s an important event for us but there are also big conflicts with another part of doublebass players which don’t consider so important the Petracchi’s work along all these years. I think it’s normal, but I’m very happy when I look at Mr.Petracchi to play with his incredible “Rossi” at the age of 70s or a little more… I have to check.
I conclude: Petracchi like Karr or others have signed a Era, the xx century in Italy. Now there are a lot of new talents and I’m sure italian School will remain one of the most important in the world.
With all my esteem
dr. Vito Liuzzi
p.s.:I beg your perdon for mistakes!!
Jason,
Its very good that you linked the version of Guy Tuneh and Mischa Meyer!!,
Speaking about Elegant, Technic and school, i think that Maestro
Liuzzi is right!
but, after looking at Guy Tuneh’s way of playing, one thing is clear: big talent can also play without “school”!
After all Tuneh studied in Berlin and after that with Maestro Güttler
but after all, he has his own way of playing, his own and one of a kind way of playing. , its like, some things no teacher can teach U.
I am a big fan of Petracchi he did so much for the bass, i even use his technical books, but the new generation of bass players is even going more far away!
BRAVO for every one of the bassists who push this instrument
more and more.
A.
Indeed,
Vito is right, PETRACCHI was a pionner and i’m sure that he will stay like this.
About Guy Tuneh: Tuneh is an Artistic/Creative Genius from other planet!! (so special, untill fear…, saw him in concert in Basel, you need 3-4 days to understand what you saw!!, this person has a Outstanding stage personality and with his way of playing
you get a boom, this is not from earth!!!).
Yes, the Great Virtuos Ovidiu Badila played Rococo on Bass, but it was Guy Tuneh who played it on bass for the first time WITHOUT to edit it for bass!!: in its original Text (from the cello part – and without to change a note!!),
so i just dont know; Badila, Karr, Petracchi, Tuneh, one thing i do know: for me its clear:
everyone of them showes something new and importent on the Bass!
Dear Vito:
I have so much respect to You, if i may say, dont let some crazy
people from YouTube to put you low with there Comments.
Stay Just Great as you are, we all love You and your Great
Videos in YouTube.
For me the only Great Bass player that i know is:
ME !!! (ha ha ha ha ….)
Vito : always saying something
Gary: the Sweet one
Ovidiu: the cool one
Guy: the unbelievable
and me: the one who sounds awful!!!!!!!!!!
let me say something about my self,
my technic is one of a kind, no one playes like me (’cause on one wont to play like me!!! – its not good)
my sound is…. well better not to hear.. (its realy realy not good)
my performance is … better not to be in my concert…(untill today i had only one! & it was very very short)
so i am the Greatest from all!!!!
(I’m here all week….)
dont comment back , i’m crazy i know!!
Hope that Vito, Gary & Guy will NOT read my comment and if they do so:
I am just kidding, you are very special and Great, everyone of you!
Dear Vito…
Petracchi is a good bass player, but he didnt discover
a “higher simplified technique”, his books are all a collection of technical material that was allready writen by
many many other bassists, like the one and only J. Prunner
(the Teacher of: D.Mark, O.Badila, W. Guttler….),
like the great G. Bottesini. (take alook in his books) etc.
it would be unfair to say that he is the one who changed the bass world, he collected and put together, give his ideas but not more.
not every bass player who had a luck and got the chance to be
famous and used it to try to be “Bigger”, is realy a Bigger one!!.
Its like this Prof. in Germany, silvio dalla torre, who try to sale us (here in europe) that he is the one who invent/discoverd the “4 Finger system playing”, under the name “””the new holand school””” that he (the one and the only..) discoverd.
Please, with all the respect, not dalla torre or petracchi
are the big discovery of the XX century!
Nothing that they “discoverd” was new!!!!
Every bassist who did alittle bit homework knows that in the
notes material in the europe schools (in Germany, Czech… etc. you can find the same
technical material if not better but only older.
Vito, you are good, but dont try to push it to much!!!!
be fair!!!
p.s.: so many other bass players are playing not less better
then Petracchi… and without his “higher simplified technique”.
Just be Fair!!!
Interesting that Petracchi uses solo tuning in this performance, with quite a bit of rewriting…
What is so interesting?
He wonts it to sound more Solistic, need other sound color.
After the interpretation of Meyer/Tuneh,
its not easy to get used to other performances
Dear Francesco,
I have understood what you mean. I believe in you 😉
OT
Dear Zohar,
you are too kind with me, but I’m a poor teacher with no innovative ideas. And as an “old” teacher I like new talents like Ruiz, Patkolò, Furtok and many others. But also in Italy we have very good young talents.
OT
Ops Zohar,
I’ve forgotten to tell you my favourite young italian talents: i.e. Francesco Siragusa or Donati, but it’s a different way of playing. Both have studied with Petracchi.
Ciao … best regards
Dear Vito
i play the bass and i got the chance to hear Ruiz and Patkolo
live , they are Amazing!! nothing to say!!!
but both are very proffesional, if you understand what i wish to say, its like, for me a little bit more emotion, feeling, drama, would make them bit more intresting…
Dear Kamila,
what can I say!
Nothing! They are perfect machines, now, and surely when they will be older probably they will be like you desire more. And then it’s not so easy on a double bass, you know! Great talents! I hope they will find their own way. Probably for Ruiz this travel has already began. It’s a question of opinions!
My best regards
Vito
Sorry Vito,
Do you realy think so?
if it would be there we would already see it!!
A.
So as an “Old” teacher (as you said about yourself), thank you for making the point only clearer about Talented Bassists like the late Badila and Tuneh.
I think that they have something that the others dont have!
But this is what i think.
“Beyond discipline, devotion, courage, openness, adventure, and honesty, I view passion as a requirement to achieve quality and perfection … Dedication, intensity, and love of the small details, inspires my approach that the “right spirit” is needed in order to achieve greatness, not only on the performance stage, but everywhere else.”
(the words of Guy Tuneh, from the website of the bow case carrying his name)
See Vito, Some words and the right ones, can give a lot of power
and the right spirt.
As “Albert” said: some things, other you have them or you dont!
Absolutely!
Vito, Jermolay, Albert, Kamila – You all Right!
Looks to me that some of you are musicains who can control
jealousy – you dont have any problem to give a Good word to some one, RESPECT!!
It is very easy to be anvy at people like Petracchi, Ruiz, Patkolo, Dabila or Guy Tuneh (and yes some of them are real AMAZING and some of them are real phenomen Artists)
But dont forget, they all work very hard to do what they are doing!
they all dedicate there own life for that they do!
and for this BRAVO!!
Dear Friends,
I beg your pardon but sometimes my English is not so good like yours, so I have to find the better way to talk with you. Or, for an old teacher like me, it’s better I don’t talk 😥 !
Regards
Thank Jason for the link to video of the two Germans: M. Meyer & G. Tuneh.
For me they are much more Interesting then this two!
(without to be rude & sorry if i hearted somone)
Tuneh is the BEST!
INDEED,
Please post more from this Bassist (he isnt bass player, he is a Violin player with a soul of an Opera singer!!!)
Well, it’s worth discussing whether there is any point in altering what Rossini wrote. He knew how to orchestrate and knew the inherent characteristics of every instrument. Solo tuning might make a difficult piece easier to play on the bass (and that’s a valid reason for doing it), but this piece isn’t so difficult. The tonal color is brighter, but that might also be accomplished by changing to a brighter string or a brighter instrument. So it’s a valid question – why the solo tuning? Mr. Petracchi obviously felt motivated to put many hours of work into transcribing it. If it’s for tonal reasons, the issue is whether the piece is more successful with two instruments that sound more alike (solo tuning) or more different (orchestra tuning). One could argue that the composer’s intention was to emphasis and make light of the inherent contrasting qualities of the instruments…
Dear “RO”,
Not at all!!!!
Rossini wrote this peace he knew nether Solo or Orchestra tuning,
they played on Darm strings at his time!!!!!