Korneel Le Compte is undertaking this time a small tour over Germany where he will present two performances of Vanhal concerto with Kammerorchester Ettenheim. A peculiarity of these events will be a conductor Stefan Krattemacher, who is the same person that made Korneel his solo instrument.

It is indeed a rare event where the maker of an instrument has the ability to hear and lead the group where his own instrument will be tested in a solo role. Thus we wish both the soloist and the maker/conductor a happy music making and plenty of positive feedback from these concerts.

Korneel Le Compte will present yet another exciting evening of Viennese solo music and along brings us the Belgium (if not the world) premiere of Hoffmeister's solo quartet no. 4, along with the selected few other period compositions.

The peculiarity of this and other performances featuring either Duo Sweet 17 or the Ensemble Per Questa Bella Mano is the use of viola d'amore as a peer instrument instead of the regular viola. The benefit of using the viola d'amore lies in the fact that it offers the extra resonance benefits as the very Viennese bass does, by being tuned in the D major chord - and thus amplifying the resonance of the Viennese bass in the process too! Such an cohabitation may not have been used in the period, yet it perfectly well elucidates the spirit of the time which was open to explore and use any acoustical benefit available.

This is the first performance of the Ensemble Per Questa Bella Mano, and the author of this site wishes to extend every good wish to the ensemble members for the success of this and any future concerts. Please attend if you can!

This concert was a particular treat to all lovers of the Viennese bass since the two solo works were performed then, and also the Haydn's "Farewell" symphony which features a famous Viennese bass solo at the end. Every honor should be extended to Grigory Krotenko and the "Pocket Symphony" director Nazar Kozhukhar for organizing such an event. Perhaps it should also be mentioned that the Viennese bass tradition did exist in Russia even in the classical period as the famous virtuoso Joseph Kampfer used to perform in St. Petersburg toward the end of his career. Considering this fact, if you read carefully the Kortenko's article (in translation) you may notice that there are plenty of reasons to believe that the future discoveries on period Viennese bass practice in Russia are quite possible.

This is yet another in series of Edicson's multi Viennese concerto events, where he had probably again broken his own record of the various concerto performances and premieres within the same event. Needles to say, all of these pieces demonstrate Edicson's supreme Viennese technique and the world class musicality. Should you wish to discover the authentic position play for the well known Dittersdorf concerto no. 2, please observe the cited videos as these are well filmed and offer good visibility of the proper fingerings and the lack of frequent position changes that the modern tuning simply can not allow. Moreover you can also witness the proper execution of harmonics and their placement. Otherwise, we can only hope that Edicson will decide to "attack" the remainder of Viennese repertoire and present other unperformed pieces of the vast Viennese solo repertoire. Congratulations indeed to Edicson and the Venezuelan "El Sistema"!

With this concert we have had a truly unique opportunity to hear the very best pieces from the Viennese repertoire by both Mozart and Leopold Kozeluch, who originally composed his Concertant for a quartet of soloists featuring the famous period soloist Friedrich Pischelberger. If you are in Norway, by all means don't miss this event, particularly since you may also hear "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" in the true original quintet setup with the Viennese bass too! Best wishes and congratulations to David Sinclair on offering us again a such an extraordinary selection of the Viennese masterpieces.

The idea for this Charity Concert came from Benedikt Ziervogel and his Japanese music colleagues in order to commemorate the horrific March 11, 2011 earthquake that took place in Japan. Due to the same unfortunate event Benedikt's 3 week tour with his orchestra in Japan was canceled, yet he was honored to realize this event instead. The concert was also a good opportunity for Benedikt to feature some of the finest solo pieces written for Viennese bass and thus offer soothing moments for everyone present.

From the concert straight to the CD press! An exceptional performance at the revered Boston Symphony Hall to  be released on CD too. Congratulations to Rob Nairn on such a brave project!

This was the first authentic Canadian perfomance of Vanhal concerto with the orchestra. The cadenza was made by using the high harmonics in a true spirit of Sperger's own virtuoso technique. Congratualtions to Joseph on this wonderful event and best wishes on many more to come.

A unique performance of the venerable Kohaut concerto in the original that also features a US premiere of this piece. Best wishes to Andrew on his musical journeys!

Most likely the first original perfomance of Dittersdorf and Vanhal in Norway. This time in the arrangement for string orchestra and harpsichord - in D. Congratualtions to Rinat!

This is the first original performance of Vanhal concerto in Holland which follows the highest standards of authenticity by using both gut strings and the modern copy of a period 5 string instrument. Congratulations to Christian Staude on recreating the true period sound with his wonderful playing.

These are the first original performances of Dittersdorf and Vanhal concerti of our time in Russia. They follow the footsteps of the great period virtuoso Josef Kampfer who used to perform himself on Viennese Bass for the Russian court in the 18th Century. Congratulations to Rinat on this exceptional event!

This was a lovely event featuring Viennese bass in solo and chamber capacity that has occurred in Novosibrsk, Russia. Dilyaver Menametov was interested in the Viennese system and when he discovered the acoustic benefits of the original tuning, the real performance had to follow too. The result was this concert where he presents an exceptional skill in the Mozart's solo bass part, and also an excellent musicianship that blends superbly with a vocal soloist. Likewise, in Vanhal divertimento we hear him present both a nice accompaniment and a masterful solo which he even embellished with his own virtuoso cadenza. Bravo indeed and best wishes for many more of such events!

This is probably the first integral performance of Dittersdorf, Vanhal and Hoffmeister concertos along with Sperger and Mozart arias ever to occur in the world! Congratualtions!

This performance has occurred as a part of the lecture recital for the Master of Music degree requirement at the University of Auckland School of Music. The concerto was performed from Daria's own edition in the original key of Eb, without any cuts and featuring a harpsichord continuo part. The faculty supervisors for this project were U. of Auckland professors Margaret Cooke (Baroque violoncello) and John Harrison (double bass). Unless proven otherwise, this is the first public Viennese bass performance in New Zealand.

This was a degree concert that indeed have featured more US premieres of the period  compositions in the authentic Viennese setup than any other prior to it. In essence Heather has presented a premiere by every major composer of the solo Viennese music - including the first US performance of Sperger's concerto 15 in the original setup. The preparation for this even must have been very arduous, and thus a big applause and congratulations should be offered to Heather on this extraordinary accomplishment. Bravo indeed!

This performance was realized with kind cooperation of the Greece Community Orchestra, an amateur organization of the City of Greece located just north of Rochester NY. This was also a wonderful opportunity to try an E flat Viennese setup for the first time on Vanhal concerto, which was so far always performed in D. The string setup for this event was actually a steel string setup with a top solo A string "pushed" up to the B flat - resulting in a very hard feel on the bass. As an experiment in setup it worked, however since then a better way to set the steel strings to E flat setup was found, and you can read about it in the String Choice section.

All the troubles aside, the performance was warmly received, and the recording along with the few photos preserved for posterity. This is possibly the first authentic Viennese E flat performance of the Vanhal concerto in the US.

This performance of Mozart's "Per Questa", which has taken place in the wonderful auditorium of Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver in a concert that was also recorded for the CBC radio broadcast. While discussing concert program a CBC producer has wished for Mr. Relyea to do yet another piece and Wilmer Fawcet was quick to suggest Mozart's Aria. Thus on a short deadline this piece was quickly prepared. This is very likely the first authentic concert of the famous Mozart Aria realized in Canada. Congratulations to Bill!

This is very likely the first modern performance of Mozart's "Per questa" on the period Viennese setup in the USA. The very performance was a superb artistic achievement both in the sense of historic recreation and the musical experience. The author of this text was sitting way back in the hall on the third balcony level, and can testify that every single note and nuance of Bukocke's playing was audible, perfectly clear and most enjoyable. This was a clear proof that a period solo performance could withstand the highest standard of the modern performance expectations and assert itself in the most critical artistic environment of the world. Bravo!

This performance has occurred as a concluding part of the lecture recital for my DMA degree requirement at the Eastman School of Music. The preparation for this performance has been guided by my own research, musicological expertise of late Dr. Alfred Mann and musical direction of Prof. James Vandemark. Unless proven otherwise, this is the first official concerto performance on the Viennese bass in the USA.

This is probably the first modern public performance in Viennese Tuning in the world and also the first modern performance of the well known Mozart aria in the original setup. Congratulations to Chi-chi!

According to the presently available information this is the first modern performance featuring the Viennese tuning in our time. Coincidentally this is also the first modern performance of Kohaut's concerto in the original and the full credit for editing the concerto from original score, organizing the performance and finally recording the same - should go to Willmer Fawcett. This particular recoding session was intended solely for public broadcast and has featured along the two other baroque concertos. In all probability not only was this recording the first modern public performance in Viennese tuning but also a fine presentation of one of the earliest Viennese concerti.

Congratulations to Bill for undertaking this brave project!