Schumann, Brahms & Mišek: Works for Double Bass & Piano Ekkehard Beringer & Tomoko Takahashi

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Adagio & Allegro in A-Flat Major, Op. 70 (Arr. S.D. Torre & M. Petersen for Double Bass & Piano):
• 1 Adagio & Allegro in A-Flat Major, Op. 70 (Arr. S.D. Torre & M. Petersen for Double Bass & Piano): I. Adagio 03:47
• 2 Adagio & Allegro in A-Flat Major, Op. 70 (Arr. S.D. Torre & M. Petersen for Double Bass & Piano): II. Allegro 04:59
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 (Arr. E. Beringer for Double Bass & Piano):
• 3 Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 (Arr. E. Beringer for Double Bass & Piano): I. Allegro non troppo 11:14
• 4 Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 (Arr. E. Beringer for Double Bass & Piano): II. Allegretto quasi menuetto 05:35
• 5 Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 (Arr. E. Beringer for Double Bass & Piano): III. Allegro 06:48
• Adolf Mišek (1875 - 1955): Double Bass Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 6:
• 6 Double Bass Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 6: I. Con fuoco 05:55
• 7 Double Bass Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 6: II. Andante cantabile 06:58
• 8 Double Bass Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 6: III. Furiant. Allegro energico 04:29
• 9 Double Bass Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 6: IV. Finale. Allegro appassionato 05:25
• Total Runtime 55:10

Info for Schumann, Brahms & Mišek: Works for Double Bass & Piano

A double bass sounds masculine and passionate, comparable to a baritone. Highly valued as a harmonic and rhythmic platform, there is little opportunity for the instrument to make a solo appearance – this album is different. Ekkehard Beringer, a member of the NDR Elbphilharmonie and professor at the Hanover University of Music and Performing Arts, is a virtuoso on the double bass and is able to elicit a wide range of timbres from the instrument. Whether it is original works such as Adolf Mišek's Sonata in E minor or arrangements of horn and cello works by Brahms and Schumann, Ekkehard Beringer's playing sounds virtuosic, brilliant and yet down-to-earth, brilliantly accompanied by the pianist Tomoko Takahashi.

Ekkehard Beringer, double bass
Tomoko Takahashi, piano

Ekkehard Beringer
took double bass lessons from Karl-Heinz Bethmann and Rudolf Schlegel during his school years, starting at the age of ten in Hanover—unusually early for this instrument. His enthusiasm came from membership in youth orchestras: from the regional Jugendsinfonieorchester Hannover to the European Union Youth Orchestra and the international Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchester. He studied orchestral music with Wolfgang Güttler at the state conservatories in Cologne and Karlsruhe and was in the soloist class at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar with Horst-Dieter Wenkel, earning a solo double bass performance degree (Konzertexamen) there in 2002.

At the age of 24, Ekkehard Beringer became a member of the Munich Philharmonic, then associate principal double bass of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and principal double bass with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has been principal double bass in the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester since 2003, and has also performed as a soloist there. Solo and chamber music appearances have taken him to Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. In addition to his work as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, Ekkehard Beringer has increasingly focused on pedagogical work for several years: as a double bass teacher with the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchester, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Bundesjugendorchester, as well as by giving master classes in the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain. Since 2008, in addition to his work with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, he has been a professor at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. He plays a Matteo Goffriller (1659–1742) double bass.

Tomoko Takahashi
was born in Japan and took earliest lessons on the piano as a four-year-old in her homeland. In 1982 she continued her musical education at the University of the Arts in Tokyo. Starting in 1988, as a scholarship holder of the German Academic Exchange Service, she studied with Klaus Hellwig at the Berlin University of the Arts and earned a solo piano performance degree (Konzertexamen) with highest honors in 1995. Tomoko Takahashi twice won the Artur Schnabel Competition in Berlin as well as other awards.

The Berlin-based artist receives invitations to perform repertoire by Mozart, Schumann or Mendelssohn Bartholdy as a soloist at festivals, orchestras and conductors in many countries around the world, including several appearances at the Philharmonic Berlin. The flexibility and sensitivity of her playing also make Tomoko Takahashi a sought-after chamber music partner. She regularly performs with soloists from the Berliner Philharmoniker, the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and the Bamberger Symphoniker. Her CD with instrumental versions of Robert Schumann’s song cycles (viola and piano) was widely acclaimed by press and major German broadcasters. Tomoko Takahashi shares her musical insight with young musicians, among others within the Orchestra Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. She is a lecturer at Berlin’s University of the Arts (UdK) and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.

Booklet for Schumann, Brahms & Mišek: Works for Double Bass & Piano