For the most part we know of Bottesini as a double bass virtuoso.
He stands in the shadow of the nineteenth century great executants
rather than as a composer of works of this scale.
Bottesini was generous man who, while he earned a fortune from
his energetic world tours, died in penury with his funeral expenses
met by the Parma authorities. He wrote string quartets and quintets,
some seventy salon songs and orchestral pieces as well as operas
such as Ero e Leandro and Alì Babà.
The Requiem was written in early 1877 after the death
of Bottesini’s brother Luigi. A première took place in the Capuchin
chapel in Cairo where Bottesini was conductor of the city’s
Italian opera company. The first complete performance was in
Turin’s Teatro Regio on 24 March 1880. It seems to have suffered
in the inevitable comparison with Verdi’s Requiem of
three years earlier and duly sank from sight. It was only revived
in 1979-80 with performances in Crema and in Venice.
This work, in fourteen sections, deserves better as this lovingly
performed reading goes to show. The music is lively and often
inspired. It is tuneful, with some bel canto moments
as in the Quid sum miser and the plangently cooling
Lacrymosa. That aspect is offset by the influence of
Mendelssohn and Schumann. The Dies Irae and the final
Dies illa are gems of breathlessly feathery enthusiasm;
not to be missed. There are even some grandly Beethovenian moments
as in Quaerens me. The brash Sanctus has an
Aida-like marching regality. The polished and serenely
Mozartean Agnus Dei paves the way for the fugal terracing
of the Requiem Aeternam and a wonderfully ethereal
Libera me.
The booklet notes are by Gaspare Nello Vetro with the sung words
printed in full alongside translations into English.
Michael Ponder and Eleanor Walton bring sure-footed judgement
to the recorded sound which has plenty of impact and flatters
this very worthwhile work.
If you enjoy the grand requiems of the nineteenth century you
must not overlook this. A bit of a discovery.
Rob Barnett
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Joyful Company of Singers/Peter Broadbent