Giovanni Bottesini
Giovanni Bottesini
Radio
Biography
(b. Crema, 22 Dec 1821; d. Parma, 7 July 1889).
Italian double bass player, conductor and composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, became principal bass at the Teatro S Benedetto, Venice, and toured in Europe and North America. Playing a three-string instrument tuned a tone higher than was usual, he was nicknamed the "Paganini of the double bass" for his agility, pure tone and intonation. He was a lifelong friend of Verdi and held conducting appointments at theatres in Paris, Palermo, Spain, Portugal and London. Among his stage works, Vinciguerra il bandito (1870) and Ero e Leandro (1879, libretto by Boito) were well received. It is for his numerous technically demanding double bass compositions, expanding the instrument's compass, that he is best remembered.
Italian double bass player, conductor and composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, became principal bass at the Teatro S Benedetto, Venice, and toured in Europe and North America. Playing a three-string instrument tuned a tone higher than was usual, he was nicknamed the "Paganini of the double bass" for his agility, pure tone and intonation. He was a lifelong friend of Verdi and held conducting appointments at theatres in Paris, Palermo, Spain, Portugal and London. Among his stage works, Vinciguerra il bandito (1870) and Ero e Leandro (1879, libretto by Boito) were well received. It is for his numerous technically demanding double bass compositions, expanding the instrument's compass, that he is best remembered.
