92Y Online Concert - Xavier Foley, double bass, and Kelly Lin, piano. Viewed December 10, 2020.

Live Broadcast on December 4, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

Bottesini, Elegy No. 1.

Bach, Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008.

Xavier Foley, Irish Fantasy.

Foley, Always on the Move.

Gliere, Intermezzo & Tarantella, Op. 9

I couldn't get to this program until about a week later.  Besides being a bit busy with other (mostly trivial) things I needed to take care of, I also didn't think I would get too excited about the double bass as a solo instrument.  My experience with bass as more than a "double bass" was limited to its chamber role in Schubert's "Trout Quintet" and every now and then listening to Max's playing on the instrument (in person or on TV).

In that regard I was glad I caught this program.  The most prominent takeaway for me was the instrument sounded good for most of the 60-plus minutes of the program.  Perhaps - as my aforementioned friend insisted at one time - there is no parallel between cello and bass techniques, nonetheless the similarity in sound was a lot more than I expected.  (I realize saying "wow, it sounded like a cello" may be the biggest compliment or biggest put-down you can have on the instrument.)  It was also unexpected that, at least in this case, the bass can't take that much punishment either, if the need for frequent tuning was any indication.

Foley made quite a few remarks on stage.  One puzzling statement was Bach's Suite was in D-flat minor, and it had to do with the tuning of the instrument.  And after the Bach piece he did retune the strings.  Irish Fantasy was his work based on the theme music in the game (Fate?) that came with a Windows XP computer he bought in Costco.  And Always on the Move has elements of CSI: Miami and lots of R&B to it.  The piece did start and end with traditional classical pieces, which I appreciated.

However, I am not sure how well the Bach Suite worked on the bass.  There was a distinct lack of counterpoint in the music, perhaps to play two notes "simultaneously" (by jumping quickly from one string to another) only works in specific instances.

He ended the program with an encore piece: an etude called "The Dance."

Foley plays an instrument made by Solano.  Notice the fingerboard: it ends in a notch.