Elegy In D No. 1 - Music

Giovanni Bottesini 22 December 1821 – 7 July 1889 Was An Italian Romantic Composer Conductor And A Double Bass Virtuoso. Born In Crema Italy He Was Taught The Rudiments Of Music By His Father An Accomplished Clarinetist And Composer At A Young Age And Had Played Timpani In Crema With The Teatro Sociale Before The Age Of Eleven. He Studied Violin With Carlo Cogliati And Would Have Most Likely Continued On This Instrument Except For A Unique Turn Of Events. His Father Sought A Place For Him In The Milan Conservatory But Due To The Bottesini Family's Lack Of Money A Scholarship Was Required. Only Two Were Available Double Bass And Bassoon. He Prepared A Successful Audition For The Double Bass Scholarship In A Matter Of Weeks. At The Conservatory He Studied With Luigi Rossi To Whom He Would Later Dedicate His Tre Grande Duetti Per Contrabasso. Only Four Years Later A Surprisingly Short Time By The Standards Of The Day He Left With A Prize Of 300 Francs For Solo Playing. This Money Financed The Acquisition Of An Instrument Of Carlo Giuseppe Testore And A Globe-Trotting Career As "the Paganini Of The Double Bass" Was Launched. On Leaving Milan He Spent Some Time In America And Also Occupied The Position Of Principal Double-Bass In The Theatre At Havana. Here His First Opera Cristoforo Colombo Was Produced In 1847. In 1849 He Made His First Appearance In England Playing Double Bass Solos At One Of The Musical Union Concerts. After This He Made Frequent Visits To England And His Extraordinary Command Of His Unwieldy Instrument Gained Him Great Popularity In London And The Provinces. Apart From His Triumphs As A Performer Bottesini Was A Conductor Of European Reputation And Was Conductor At The Théâtre Des Italiens In Paris From 1855 To 1857 Where His Second Opera L'Assedio Di Firenze Was Produced In 1856. When Conducting Opera Bottesini Would Frequently Bring His Double Bass On Stage During The Intermission To Play Fantasies On The Evening's Opera. His Fantasies On Lucia Di Lammermoor I Puritani And Beatrice Di Tenda Are Virtuosic Tours De Force That Are Still Popular With Those Who Are Highly Accomplished On The Instrument. In 1861 And 1862 He Conducted At Palermo Supervising The Production Of His Opera Marion Delorme In 1862 And In 1863 At Barcelona. During These Years He Diversified The Toils Of Conducting By Repeated Concert Tours Through The Principal Countries Of Europe. In 1871 He Conducted A Season Of Italian Opera At The Lyceum Theatre In London During Which His Opera Ali Babà Was Produced And At The Close Of The Year He Was Chosen By Verdi To Conduct The First Performance Of Aida Which Took Place At Cairo On December 27 1871. Bottesini Wrote Three Operas Besides Those Previously Mentioned Il Diavolo Della Notte Milan 1859 Vinciguerra Paris 1870 And Ero E Leandro Turin 1880 The Last Named To A Libretto By Arrigo Boito Which Was Subsequently Set By Luigi Mancinelli. He Also Wrote The Garden Of Olivet A Devotional Oratorio Libretto By Joseph Bennett Which Was Produced At The Norwich Festival In 1887 Eleven String Quartets A Quintet For String Quartet And Double Bass And Many Works For The Double Bass Including Two Concertos For Solo Double-Bass The Gran Duo Concertante Originally For Two Double Basses Passione Amorosa For Two Double Basses And Numerous Pieces For Double Bass And Piano. Shortly Before His Death In 1888 He Was Appointed Director Of Parma Conservatory On Verdi's Recommendation. Bottesini Died In Parma On The 7th Of July 1889. His Solo Works Are An Uncommon Performance Today Not Because Of A Lack Of Musicality But Due To Their Virtuosic Difficulty. read less