Three concertos for double bass and orchestra by Johann Matthias Sperger, who was not only a composer but also the most important double bassist of the 18th century, are performed and recorded here by orchestra and soloists according to the original scores. From Sperger's extensive compositional legacy, which includes no less than eighteen double bass concertos, only the early works No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 have been selected here. These works all date from the years of Sperger's first employment as a double bassist, between 1777 and 1783, in the court chapel of the Archbishop of Hungary, Duke Joseph Count of Batthyány in Pressburg. Specifically, they date from the years 1778 and 1779 Sperger's treatment of the solo double bass, novel for his time, as well as the execution of the orchestral part are reminiscent of the cello concertos of none other than Joseph Haydn. The range of four and a half octaves demanded here alone goes beyond all previous conceptions and lets the double bass advance into those cantabile spheres that were once reserved for the cello or the violin. Melody and virtuosity leave nothing to be desired and demand the soloist's true mastery of his instrument. All three double bass concertos on this CD are in three movements. In all of them, the first and third movements are spirited, each with a distinctive theme, and virtuosic in design, with the corner movements featuring winds in all cases: 2 oboes and 2 horns, and in Concerto No. 3 also timpani and trumpets. The soloist uses gut strings, as was common at the time of the composition of the works more than two hundred years ago, which brings out the warm sound of the instruments. The chamber orchestra Collegium Wartberg 430, conducted by soloist Ján Krigovský, provides a highly authentic accompaniment.