Customer Reviews

Tuba Carnival

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is a great piece of soloistic instrumental playing, nevermind that it is on the tuba! My old review was 4 stars, but after hearing Oystein again live and relistening to the album I did a new review with 5 stars. Oystein Baadsvik shows great musicianship and versatility on this CD. The selections range from extreme virtuosity and technical facility to lush melodic lyricism. The fact that he is backed by a string orchestra on many pieces may well further place this project in the "landmark" category. I may find Oystein's vibrato a hair fast at times but, my personal preferences aside, he is an incredible musician as demonstrated in "Tuba Carnival." Anyone looking for a fantastic solo tuba album will not be disappointed.

Having had a stint at brass instruments myself, including the Tuba I am absolutely dazzled by this record.
His technique is phenomenal.
This could be a very good gift idea for someone who thinks he has heard it all.

I purchased this and two Bobo Cds. This is the winner by far. I thoroughly enjoyed every single note by Baadsvik. His performance is incredible. As a life long tubist, I come from an age when there was no tuba music, so I am quite used to pieces originally written for other instruments. I will look for more by this artist in the future.

Both Baadsvik and Bobo do The Carnival of Venice. Baadsvik is the winner, in my humble opinion.

I heard Mr. Baadsvik at a recital tonight at Texas Tech University. And I have got to say, he is quite a musician. I have not bought this CD, but I'm going to because I heard him live and he was marvelous!! If you love the tuba, or good classical solos, I would recommend Mr. Baadsvik's CD.

This guy is the MOST virtuostic tubist EVER. If you have not experienced this CD... you need to. His arbans tempo is VERY DANG FAST. These arrangements RULE! This CD is arguably the best tuba solo CD ever recorded to date and I can only see possibly Oystein Baadsvik ever upstaging this one. Very awesome CD I love it. Fnugg is AWESOME!!!!!!

I got a chance to hear Oystein live at a Recital at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, and OH MY GOSH!!! This CD should be incredible

This is a recital disk for Oystein Baadsvik, the Norwegian tuba virtuoso.

Except for the opening work, we hear Mr. Baadsvik accompanied by a small string orchestra (Musica Vitae) and most of the works are arrangements expressly for him rather than originals. "Fnugg", an unaccompanied item, opens the disk. Written by Mr. Baadsvik, it's a rather colorless, droning exploration of the tuba's ability to produce multiphonics (it turns out, when you sing a note as you play a brass instrument, the combination of two different notes can produce a third note for some interesting harmonics). In a way, this piece sets the tone for the disk--Mr. Baadsvik seems interested in showing off his considerable technical facility at the expense of the music itself.

The most obvious examples of his efforts to impress us are his performances of Antonio Vivaldi's "Winter" violin concerto from "The Four Seasons" and Vittorio Monti's Gypsy-flavored violin piece, "Csardas". Hearing a tuba play these well-known fiddle pieces is like watching a dog dressed up in a tutu, dancing ballet. It's a memorable achievement, but the artistry is lost and the whole thing is just a bit unnatural. Boy, this guy can play, but his taste needs to be called into question.

The other works that have been adapted for Mr. Baadsvik's tuba feature a pleasant jig, a couple of excerpts of fellow Norwegian Edvard Grieg's work, and another awkward bit: an homage to J.S. Bach (harpsichord continuo with a tuba? huh?). It's almost a relief to hear Jean-Baptiste Arban's famous trumpet variations on "The Carnival Of Venice", which is a much better fit for the tuba. Mr. Plau's concerto forms the centerpiece of the disk and it's a lovely bit of fluff where the orchestra shows a better feel for lyricism than the soloist. The string writing shows a mastery of the form. Overall, this disk is a disappointment, emphasizing shallow technique over artistry and musicianship.

<EDIT> I see that saying unkind things about Mr. Baadsvik gets me unhelpful marks; hopefully not fanboys who disagree with me. So here's a revision to make my review more helpful: If you'd like to hear a sensational tuba technician who's also a brilliant musician (and makes better repertory choices), do consider trying to hunt down Michael Lind's "Virtuoso Tuba". It's a scintillating set of performances showing the full range of the tuba without any stunt pieces. Sadly, the Lind disk is out-of-print, but worth hunting down.