Chamber concert at Read House spotlights double bass soloist [video]

Taylor Brown is principal double bass for the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera. He previously was principal double bass of the Youngstown (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra and section member of the Canton (Ohio) and West Virginia symphonies. He has toured internationally with Barry Manilow, performed with Earth, Wind & Fire and is an active freelance session musician for wide-ranging commercial recording projects.

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera continues its Sunday afternoon Chamber Series at the Read House this weekend with music from Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and CSO principal double bass player Taylor Brown performing Bottesini's Double Bass Concerto No. 2.

Conducted by CSO Music Director Kayoko Dan, the concert opens with Sergei Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, which debuted in 1913 with Prokofiev (1891-1953) conducting. He composed the work completely away from the piano. His idea for this symphony was to retain his contemporary style but write in the style of Haydn.

"It seemed to me that if Haydn had lived in our day, he would have retained his own style while accepting something of the new at the same time," Prokofiev wrote in his autobiography. "That's the kind of symphony I wanted to compose."

Virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889), heralded as the "Paganini of the Double Bass," began as a violinist. When the only music scholarship he could find was on the double bass, he prepared for the audition in a matter of weeks and won the scholarship. He would later become a renowned opera conductor, chosen by Verdi to conduct the premiere of "Aida" in Cairo.

Brown says he's thankful for the opportunity to recreate the work Sunday and looks forward "to performing in a new and challenging capacity with my colleagues of the CSO."

Finishing the program is Felix Mendelssohn's String Octet. Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed the work when he was only 16. In the LA Philharmonic Program Notes, reviewer Eric Bromberger has praised the composition for its "fire in the beginning" and music that "zips along brilliantly in the scherzo." Mendelssohn had termed it "allegro leggierissimo - as light as possible."