Âmes sœurs

The double bass is mainly an orchestral instrument, and can sound gruff and cumbersome when played solo. Not, however, in the hands of the French artist Lorraine Campet: her debut album Âmes sœurs (Soulmates) spotlights how eloquent the double bass can be, and how expressively flexible. Two of the three main works are usually performed on cello, but sound tailor-made for Campet’s tonally warm and emotionally articulate style of playing. She brings a subtle drollery to Beethoven’s 7 Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” (an aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute), and a nimbleness the double bass is not usually renowned for. The poetic slow movement of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata is another highlight, as is Campet’s bracingly agile account of the third of Schumann’s Op. 73 Fantasiestücke. Pianist Nathanaël Gouin’s unfailingly sensitive accompaniments are another bonus, as are the attractive arrangements of songs by the 19th-century German composer Josephine Lang which punctuate the recital.