Bottesini’s teachers were Rossi for double bass and Basilio Basili
and Nicola Vaccaj for harmony and composition. On leaving the Conservatorio he
travelled with his fellow student, Signor Arditi (a violinist), eventually
visiting America before obtaining a lucrative post as principal double bass in
the orchestra in Havana, Cuba, a post that he kept for a number of years. It
was here that his opera Christophe Colombe was first produced. He visited
England in 1849, gaining a great reputation as a double bass player. Interestingly
he played a three stringed instrument, somewhat smaller than a standard double
bass, preferring this for its sonority.
From 1855 to 1857 Bottesini was conductor of the Italian
opera in Paris and from 1861 to 1863 was director of the Italian opera in Cairo,
being Verdi’s choice of conductor for the first performance of Aida. In 1871 he
conducted a season at the Lyceum in London. In addition to many works for his
own instrument, he also wrote fourteen operas, chamber works including eleven string
quartets, a Messa di Requiem and an oratorio The Garden of Olivet, performed for the first time at the Norwich
Festival. Bottesini died in Parma.
Bottesini’s Messa di Requiem was composed in 1877 after the
death of his brother Luigi. It was first performed, in an adapted version, in
the Capuchin chapel in Cairo, the first complete performance being at Turin’s
Teatro Regio in 1880.
Naxos www.naxos.com have
just released a new recording of the Messa di Requiem performed by the London
Philharmonic Orchestra www.lpo.co.uk with
the Joyful Company of Singers www.jcos.co.uk conducted by Thomas Martin, himself a double bass player and instrument maker www.thomasmartin.co.uk/bass-services/thomas-martin-conductor
, and the soloists Marta Matheu (soprano) www.martamatheu.es,
Gemma Coma-Alabert (mezzo-soprano) www.gemmacomaalabert.com/gca.php,
Agustin Prunell-Friend (tenor) www.agustinprunell.com
and Enric Martinez-Castignani (baritone) www.emcastignani.com
. Although this new release is not billed as a premiere recording, I can find
no other recordings currently available.
8.572994 |
There is a slightly Mendelssohnian Dies irae with choir and orchestra, an allegro full of drama and imaginatively scored, with lovely
descending woodwind above the orchestra. Perhaps the choral writing tends
towards the ordinary at times but this is never less than attractive writing. In the lovely Quid sum miser, Agustín Prunell-Friend doesn’t always sound very
strong in this recording yet, in his upper register, his voice can be lovely.
Quaerens me, for
choir and orchestra alone, is a very attractive setting, stirring, vibrant and
full of life. In the Ingemisco I
couldn’t help hearing Mendelssohn again in the orchestration. Bass, Enric
Martinez-Castignani has a firm and attractive voice in this lovely andante that has attractive orchestral
touches. In the Confutatis the choir
opens with the orchestra in a sprung rhythm marked moderato. The four soloists
appear in the central section before the choir and orchestra conclude.
The Lacrymosa is a
flexible, flowing adagio with the
soprano, mezzo, tenor and baritone with orchestra. As a vocal ensemble these
four voices work well. There is a faster central section for choir and
orchestra. After an orchestral
introduction to the Offertory: Domini
Jesu, the soprano, Marta Mathéu, joins. She has a firm, attractive voice,
flexible, with a lovely upper register in this nicely paced andantino.
In the Sanctus and
Benedictus, the short sanctus, an
allegro, opens with orchestra and
trumpets full of grandeur. This section, for choir and orchestra, is full of
display and, dare I say without invoking too much of Verdi’s influence,
theatre. There is a rather pastoral sounding benedictus with the four soloists and orchestra in a gently flowing
andantino con moto. The Agnus Dei has an attractive orchestral
opening before the soprano and mezzo enter. Marta Matheu and Gemma Coma-Alabert
blend well in this andante.
Choir and orchestra slowly speed up to a dramatic little
climax in the Requeim aeternam before
speeding off in music that is nevertheless marked grave, prior to the music again building to a climax. Female voices
alone open the Libera me before the
full choir join. These forces alternate until the orchestra joins followed by a
solo mezzo-soprano with orchestra. Gemma Coma-Alabert has quite a wide vibrato
but provides some beautifully characterful singing in this lovely well-judged
setting.
The earlier dies irae then re-appears in dies illa, again slightly Mendelssohnian in character but full of brilliance and gusto with cymbals crashing. The four soloists enter in a quieter section before the choir return to speed up the former theme. Tension is built by quieter sections as the music swirls to a triumphant conclusion with upward orchestral motifs.
I have to say that I enjoyed this Requiem immensely with the
imaginative orchestration ensuring that there is never a tedious moment. The
recording made at the Henry Wood Hall, London is excellent. There are full
Latin texts and translations.
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