Nina Bernat may be petite, but she is a poetic powerhouse when playing the double bass. Bernat, one of Chamber Music Northwest’s protégé artists, enticed the audience at Lincoln Recital Hall (June 9) with an emotive performance of works by Chopin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Mendelssohn, and Rossini. The program marvelously showed off the expressive range of the bass, making a strong case for more chamber works to be written for the lowest of string instruments.

The 24-year-old phenom grew up with an in-house advantage, because her father, Mark Bernat, is a double-bass virtuoso noted for his orchestral work, teaching (Oberlin and the University of Texas-Austin), transcriptions, and recordings (especially of the six Bach Suites). There’s a terrific video of father and daughter playing a lovely double-bass duet (scroll down the page). And here she is performing Bach solo earlier this year:

But familial ties have not prevented Ms. Bernat from carving out her own path. She has received the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, won competitions (including the 2019 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition), performed as the guest principal bassist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic, and regularly subs with the New York Philharmonic. Just after arriving in Portland for her CMNW gig, she was appointed to the faculty of Stony Brook University. That’s where the members of the Emerson String Quartet (newly retired) teach. For crying out loud!

In her introductory remarks to her recital, Bernat said that she wanted her selections to tell a story without words. So, she began the concert with her father’s arrangement of Chopin’s Introduction et polonaise brilliante, with pianist and CMNW Artistic Director Gloria Chien. Bernat beautifully expressed the rich melodic line and deftly slipped to the flashy, filigree of notes in the upper register – all the while caressing the bass with great sensitivity – before closing on a sweeping crescendo. 

Gubaidulina’s Pantomime took listeners in a completely different direction. Bernat executed sudden shifts between the highest and lowest ends of the bass, eliciting eerie sounds with no vibrato and creating spooky, glassy, tremolo glissandos. Chien added to the ominous tension with blurry chords and spikey notes. Racing around on the keyboard suggested a chase scene. Quiet strumming from Bernet’s bass transitioned to a dwindling cry and a sense of something dangling and a haunting ending.  

Bernat followed that with her arrangements of Mendelssohn’s Suleika and Lied ohne Worte (Song without Words).  In Suleika, Bernat’s bass sang passionately, supported expertly by the rolling underlayment of Chien’s piano.  For Lied ohne Worte, Bernat also created cantabile lines filled with longing that became heavily agitated before subsiding into a calm of assurance or perhaps resignation. 

Rossini was only 12 years old when he wrote six “Sonatas a quattro” for two violins, cello and double bass. His String Sonata No. 3, played by violinist Julianne Lee (who just joined the Dover Quartet) and protégé artists violinist Sonoko Miriam Welde and cellist Daniel Thorell (both members of Opus13) and Bernat, lightened up the mood with its playfulness. Each musician got a shot at speedy and tricky passages in the first movement. The second countered with Lee heightening the slow melodic foreground while her accomplices supported her in the background. The third movement danced along with each player shining in their solos and then dashing to the finale. That brought the audience to their feet with cheers and thunderous applause. 

Sponsor

Although there is a lack of chamber music that puts the spotlight on the double bass, composers should consider correcting that deficit. In the hands of talented artists like Bernat, these new pieces, including transcriptions, can be very rewarding to hear.