Ten onrechte is de muziek van Bottesini enigszins in de vergeethoek terechtgekomen. In de 19e eeuw was hij een wereldberoemde contrabasspeler en dirigent. Hij liet een breed oeuvre na met opera's, kamermuziek en geestelijke werken, waaronder het Messa da Requiem. Een werk geschreven in 1877 voor zijn broer Luigi. Het werk heeft de vorm van een katholieke mis en heeft grote dramatische kracht, vergelijkbaar met de requiems van Mozart, Cherubini en Verdi. Fraaie uitvoering onder Thomas Martin.
Bottesini: Messa da Requiem
Edited by Thomas Martin, Josep Prats and Peter Broadbent
Joyful Company of Singers & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Martin
Renowned worldwide in his lifetime and remembered today as a double bass virtuoso, Giovanni Bottesini excelled in every branch of musicianship, but his operas and sacred works were overshadowed by those of Verdi and have fallen into neglect. Composed in response to the death of his brother Luigi, Bottesini’s large scale Requiem combines ecclesiastical counterpoint with formal innovation and the expressive lyricism and dramatic orchestration of operatic models.
With double bass virtuoso Thomas Martin stepping into conductor’s shoes in Bottesini’s unjustly neglected Requiem, this is one of our major releases of the season, which will be sure to generate wide interest. With an extremely strong set of soloists, The Joyful Company of Singers’ “conviction and a real depth of feeling” (Gramophone on 8557783, Williamson Choral Music), and the renowned London Philharmonic Orchestra, this is a large-scale work to stand alongside Verdi’s famous Requiem, but by contrast having the CD market entirely to itself.
