DOUBLE BASS AND PIANO DUO
Théotime Voisin, double bass - Maurice van Schoonhoven, piano
The first moment they began playing together, Maurice and Théotime knew they had the making of a remarkable—if unusual—duo. Their virtuosity, lyricism and theatrical performance touched the heart of their audience. A virtuoso double bassist and a virtuoso pianist with such a shared musical spirit, they had to continue playing together.
So, following their initial encounter in 2019 at the « Hofjes Concerten » festival in Leiden (NL), they aimed to explore together not only the original repertoire for double bass and piano, but also any repertoire that might fit their duo.
They took advantage of the coronavirus crisis creatively, using their forced inactivity to refine their musical partnership. The year 2021 happened to be precisely the 200th anniversary of Giovanni Bottesini’s birth, the most famous composer for repertoire for the double bass. A unique and challenging idea germinated easily: what a better maiden project than to record videos of Bottesini’s complete works for double bass and piano? Through the year, three hours of music were recorded in just three studio days, making this project even more extraordinary. The resulting videos, regularly uploaded, met with a heartening success; they can be found by clicking here.
Last February, a concert tour in the south of France was enthusiastically received by audiences: Maurice and Théotime had achieved their goal of bringing their special duo to the front stage. Recitals, playing transcriptions and original repertoire for double bass and piano, are naturally an ongoing project. On top of this, they are currently:
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creating a concert/theater play with an actor, based on the life of Bottesini and his time, in order to make the music of Bottesini better known.
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working on an hour long original piece in an operatic style that is currently being written by the french composer Jean-Marc Fouché, highlighting Maurice’s and Théotime’s playing and their musical personalities.