The three Gran Duetti for two double basses by the Italian Giovanni Bottesini from 1839 are the works of an 18-year-old student as a reverence to his teacher. In later life Bottesini became one of the most celebrated virtuosos of his time and also had a remarkable career as a conductor; after all, Giuseppe Verdi entrusted him with the premiere of his Aida. The internationally praised cellist Martin Rummel and the double bassist Christine Hoock, one of today's leading virtuosos of her instrument, present on this album their versions of the three student works for cello and double bass, with which they do not even attempt to present an Urtext reading, but rather bring to the fore the exuberant joie de vivre of the instrument's boundless mastery.