Giovanni Bottesini was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso born on December 22, 1821, in Crema, Lombardy1. He is often referred to as “the Paganini of the double bass” due to his extraordinary skill with the instrument.
Bottesini’s early musical education was provided by his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer. He began playing timpani with the Teatro Sociale in Crema before the age of eleven and later studied violin with Carlo Cogliati1. His father sought a place for him at the Milan Conservatory in 1835, and Bottesini prepared a successful audition for the double bass scholarship in a matter of weeks.
After leaving the conservatory in 1839, Bottesini embarked on a globe-trotting career as a double bass virtuoso. He made his first appearance in England in 1849 and enjoyed great popularity for many years due to his extraordinary skill as a performer1. Bottesini was also known throughout Europe as a conductor and directed the first performance of Verdi’s Aida at Cairo in 1871.
Bottesini’s contributions to music include numerous operas, sacred works, orchestral pieces, and works for the double bass. His fantasies on Lucia di Lammermoor, I puritani, Beatrice di Tenda, and especially La sonnambula are virtuosic tours de force that are still popular with those who are highly accomplished on the instrument.
He passed away on July 7, 1889, in Parma.
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