The good news is that it will only take me about 150 years to learn to play like that. Thanks for a performance beyond words, as always, Mr. Rotaru.

yes, there is enough solo repertoire for bass, but not as much as for violin or cello. Thanks for listening and I am glad you enjoyed it! Catalin

Didn't think this was even possible on a bass! Unbelievable, what amazing chops!

Hi Catalin, my name is Alberto, I am already a friend of yours in facebook. I am an Italian doublebass player, but after studying with Petru Iuga in Trossingen I took the position of Solokontrabass in a small orchestra in East Germany. I really think your playing is fantastic and out of this world. I think the rumanian school is one of the best and you are one of the greatest musician I have ever heard. I really hope to meet you someday! Congratulation for everything!!!

I never thought a bass could sound that beautiful. THANK YOU!!!

Catalin, you made my day with your playing! I am a viola student, but you helped me to appreciate all the members of the strings family!

i love how composed you play! seeing a smirk every now and then reminded me how even the most difficult music can be the most fulfilling! bravo!

One of my favorite recordings of this piece on any instrument, just unbelievable work Mr Rotaru

Hi mr Rotaru great sound. You became one of my favorite double bass player. Thanks for your great art.

omg this is just so good, the best Rococo Var I ever heard in years!

bravo Catalin and Nabil!fantastic!

What beauty and skill on what sounds and looks like a wonderful instrument! That 3rd movement is an inspiration to bassist everywhere

Is a pleasure to see you playing like that! Beautiful!

I love how happy you always look while playing =]

Настоящий виртуоз!!! Прекрасное исполнение! Спасибо.

I especially like the joy and expression on your face when you look up. Wonderful playing Maestro!

I listen this concert in Live, and was one of my bigest Inspiration from this Convention 2010. Thanks Catalin Rotaru :)

I came here to get inspired, gracias Catalin.

Catalin = God. no more words.

Vai, nu pot sa adaug decat "Splendid"! Cu admiratie si gratitudine din Chisinau, Maestre! (Y)

Proficiat, en met een ontspannen houding, meesterlijk

It's even more amazing that some variations are played in the original register, i.e. one octave higher than written! This makes variation III, originally technically quite easy, much more difficult!

I'm really glad you like it; thanks for taking time to listen and good luck to you!

Excellent recording and wonderful sound!!

Fantastico !!!! Bravissimo Sr. Catalin.

You must have practiced 40 hours a day #lingling #respect 9:08 wow. How do you control harmonics so well.. i want to cry

Thank you! You've been a great help!

Bravo,Catalin!You are great!

i don't understand how there aren't 1,000,000 views or more.

Super,..Bravo Catalin..

Beautiful performance!

@donbass1979 thanks for listening Donat! congrats again for the wonderful performance at the Koussevitzky competition and I too, hope we meet again soon; Happy New Year! Catalin

bravo!

@DBass9994 thanks for listening and I'm truly glad you enjoyed it! At the time of this performance, this bass was about 2 weeks old :) It was made by my good friend, Luciano Golia. Best wishes to you!

I'm in tears right now because that was such an emotional performance. Some missed notes, some slightly out of tune, but this was full of heart. And hearing on the bass, really brought out a lot of the rhythms and key notes, that aren't always all that clear on the cello. So, Bravo. With tears in my eyes, Bravo!!!!!

BRAVISSIMO !!!!!

@Mizzles240 thanks for listening! Yes, most of the time I just use the original part and transpose.

beautiful sound👍💪

Great, immense Catalin!!

Yourrrr toneeee is soooo smooth :)))

Amazing！

@dogtransport it's already in my repertoire; I played it 2 weeks ago in Germany at the bass festival in Michaelstein

Браво!😻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

amazing Catalin !

gyönyörű hangon játszik mindenkinek ajánlom, hallgassák őt :)

Thanks, I appreciate your words!

Excelente maestro Rotaru!...acabo de descubrirlo, gracias por esta interpretación extraordinaria....solo me inspira a seguir adelante estudiando mi contrabajo....espero conocerle algún día...saludos desde Venezuela!

many thanks Yermek!

Meu Deus como Catalin toca, maravilhoso, amo demais escutar ele tocando❤❤❤❤

una obra de arte! bravo catalin

Grossartig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bravissimo!!!!!!! nagyszerű !!!!!!!!!

Unbelievable performance. :) :)

It's written for Violoncello ;)

Absolutely superhuman.....

u re amazing catalin!! come back to argentina!!

Absolutely lovely. For a cartoonish version of Tchaikovsky featuring the bass, I do the piano concerto transcribed for electric bass. (I know. It's total blasphemy). Anyway, your tone, technique and intonation are fantastic. And good to see the old German bowing. It seems rare these days.

I'm used to hearing what I'd call a slight metallic sound from the doublebass; it's even heard on some of the old LPs I own. But Rotaru never has a hint of that. Anyone know what I mean? (This performance staggers me, by the way)

Very Good, Very Nice!

Certifié intergalactique!

thanks for listening and for your kind words! Good luck with your transcription; it's not cartoonish if it helps you grow as musician and performer :)

impresionante!!!

@10124797 thanks for listening and yes, I have many famous friends in the bass world :)

@Critchie23 indeed, at the time of this performance the bass was 2 weeks old....

Bravo!

Bravissssssimo!

many thanks for your comment Jamil, and good luck to you!

Very Good!

On the double bass(!), he plays this tricky piece as good as a professional cellist!

Catalin, I have a question for you: Is there alot of repetoire for the double bass? At least more than the average person could guess? I'm really thinking of taking up the bass and it's in part due to you ;) I absolutely love your performances your my favorite bassist! Take care, and get back to me, if you will. In your spare time. Congrats on your performance once again ;)

I think, if Tschaikowsky had thougt about playing it on double bass, he wouldn't have written it for cello..

ma che bravo professsionista pazzesco di difficile interpretazione con il contrabbasso,ma è stupendo.

Also, one more thing, was your bass tuned starting from the bottom string, E, A, D then G for this performance? I think I've seen other bassists that tuned their basses differently for some performancing so I was wondering.

Mr. Rotaru, I absolutely love your tone, and your vibrato is so expressive. It is pleasantly wonderful to listen to. It's very inspiring for a younger player, such as myself. I'm curious though, did you start on cello and then switch to double bass? The way you sit and play happened to make me wonder.

Mi sono sempre chiesto: che cosa significa agogica, in senso pratico? Ecco, credo di averlo capito. E' un grande!

Maestro Catalin fantastic performance very well executed. I am looking forward to play this piece for my master's recital, however I cannot find this version in G mayor to play with solo strings (so it sounds A), could you please guide me to where I can find it or buy it. Thank you and hope to see you in a near future

Mr. Rotaru, the more I listen to you, the more I like your playing. But still, I keep wondering, why do you play so many transcriptions? Or arrangements. Or, whatever, cello stuff. There's so much awesome literature for bass. I am just now discovering the Hertl and Findeisen concertos and I'm sure there's much more out there. No offense (at all) but it kind of seems like you don't like what's been written for your own instrument. So yeah, I'm just wondering and I'd like to hear your point of view. Greetings from Switzerland, an aspiring Double Bass Soloist

Респект

Awesome! Mr. Rotaru, are you going to teach at any Master Courses in central Europe in the next time? Cheers!

I used normal solo tuning, as I do most of the time, which is a tone higher; so from the bottom, F# B E A

Sir, you put us cellists to shame!

I was supposed to do something important... but honestly, who can resist such memorization?

Sadly I never find a piece that is originally made for a bass solo

ceva special catalin rotaru,finete si arta...

@geoped1 haha....I love this!!!

Which solo instrument is this composition meant for?

I’ll bet he’s using the Thomastic Solo Guage Strings tuned a whole step higher.

Mr. Rotaru, where did you get the bent endpin your currently using? Thanks

Just for me 7:23 12:28 17:03

@SpitfireCurl Most likely, because the featured artist isn't wearing his pants below his crotch, wearing a ballcap backwards, screaming yo-yo and mo-fo into a mike while prancing around like the missing link in front of a crowd of spoiled sycophants with one hand attached to the latest elelctronic device. That's my guess.

what strings do u use mr Catalin

Cello

Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap ClP PP p p p

Oh, I'm not saying I don't think it's good! ha. It's just that it's such a bastardization and departure from the more "legitimate" and traditional work that you're doing. But art is art. I've taken several cello pieces and reworked them for bass and posted them on KZfaq. And yes, there aren't many written for double bass. A shame. You can paste -- Haydn Double Bass Concerto for Electric Bass Guitar - if you want good laugh. : )

Fais du Violoncelle mon pote

Many try to copy Badila but he will be rest forever the best... nice try, but not as much as Ovidiu did ;-)

Playing, though beautifully, the bass like a cello - high in the register. Prefer hearing it as a bass.

bravo!