Martin: Bottesini Collection 2

By Thomas Martin

Known to his contemporaries as the Paganini of the double bass, Giovanni Bottesini significantly extended the technical possibilities of the instrument both as a composer and virtuoso soloist. After the Prelude to Ero e Leandro, Bottesini’s greatest operatic masterpiece, this disc continues with the most popular of his compositions for the instrument among bassists today, the Concertino in C minor. In this work virtuosity is always at the service of musical ends. The rarely performed Duo Concertante for Cello and Double Bass on Themes from Bellini’s I Puritani makes considerable technical demands of the soloist.

Track listing:
1. Ero e Leandro - Opera

Concertino in C minor
2. I. Moderato
3. II. Andante
4. III. Finale:Allegro

Il diavolo della notte - Opera
5. Sinfonia

Passioni amorose for two double basses and orchestra
6. I. Allegro deciso
7. II. Andante
8. III. Allegretto

9. Elégia in D

Alì Babà - Opera
10. Overture

11. Duo Concertante on Themes from Bellini's I Puritani for cello, double bass and orchestra