Culture Watch: Venezuelan bassist Edicson Ruiz's new CD

Double Bass Concertos peformed by Edicson Ruiz (Klassikwerkstatt).  Another El Sistema wonder, Ruiz went from Caracas to the Berlin Philharmonic bass section at age 17, the youngest player ever hired by the fabled orchestra. 

Here, Ruiz dazzles and delights in three likeable and little-known Classical period concertos by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Johann Baptist Vanhal, excellently accompanied by the bassist's Venezuelan colleagues -- the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar conducted by Christian Vásquez.

-- Mark Swed