Tom McGee

Two big concerts are coming up this weekend. On Friday night I’m with the Ridgewood (NJ) Symphony, in a program of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 and Mahler’s First Symphony. Sunday afternoon is The Broadway Bach Ensemble, with two pieces for solo bass and orchestra, Robert Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony, plus Handel’s “Entrance of the Queen of Sheba” as a curtain-raiser.

Ordinarily I’d be gushing all over the Mahler. But I’m not, and let’s leave it at that. If you want more info on that, you can check the orchestra’s web site.

The soloist with BBE is Richard Fredrickson, a serious virtuoso of the bass. Usually when you hear a bass solo — for example in Mahler’s 1st, or Lieutenant Kije — you hear a struggle. The tone can be thin and metallic, the transitions between notes jagged and uneven.

Close your eyes and listen to Fredrickson and you’d think you were hearing a ‘cello. It’s remarkable. He’s doing Giannini’s “Psalm 130″ and a concerto by Dragonetti, a contemporary of Beethoven.

The BBE plays at Broadway Presbyterian Church, 114th and Broadway in New York City, 2pm on Sunday, May 3. Admission is free!