BOTTESINI

Music for Double Bass and Piano • 2

Concerto No. 2 • Tutto che il mondo serra
Joel Quarrington, Double Bass
Andrew Burashko, Piano
Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889)
Music for Double Bass and Piano • 2
It was a curious twist of fate that produced the
nineteenth century’s reigning double bass virtuoso.
When a lad of fourteen, Giovanni Bottesini had already
greatly developed his musical talents, as a choirboy, a
violinist, and a timpani player. His father sought a place
for him in the Milan Conservatory, but found only two
were available: for bassoon and for double bass. Double
bass it was, then. He prepared a successful audition in a
matter of weeks, and only four years later, a surprisingly
short time by the standards of the day, still a teenager,
he left with a prize of 300 francs for solo playing. This
money financed the acquisition of an instrument by
Carlo Testore, and a globe-trotting career as “the
Paganini of the Double Bass” was launched.
The anecdote should be read not just as a curious
chapter in the biography of a prodigy, but also as early
evidence of the extraordinary versatility that Bottesini
exhibited for the rest of his life. He toured throughout
Europe, Latin America, and the United States,
impressing audiences with his musicality as much as he
astounded them with technical mastery of a “cumbrous”
instrument. An English writer who heard his London
début performance in 1849 recalled that “It was not only
marvellous as a tour de force, but the consummate skill
of this great artist enabled him to produce a result
delightful even for the most fastidious musician to listen
to.”
That innate musicality naturally opened toward two
complementary paths, as a conductor and as a
composer. It was of course expected that the
instrumental virtuosi would compose works to
showcase their personal prowess. For example,
Dragonetti, the greatest bassist of the preceding
generation, turned out dozens of somewhat mechanistic
pieces that tend to dazzle listeners more than to move
them; a genius composer-performer like Liszt, on the
other hand, could craft virtuoso pieces that transcend
mere display, and indeed could transcend his own
instrument. Bottesini falls between such extreme
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examples. He wrote about a dozen operas, from
Cristoforo Colombo while resident in Havana in 1846-7,
to Vinciguerro il bandito which had a run of forty
performances in Paris in 1870, and La regina di Nepal
for Turin in 1880. He also composed eleven string
quartets, a genre scarcely noticed in nineteenth-century
Italy, songs, some sacred music, and a few orchestral
works. It was only his music for double bass, however,
and only some of that, that outlived him.
As a conductor and music director, Bottesini at one
time or another held major posts at theatres in London,
Paris, Palermo, Madrid, and Barcelona. Music history,
however, notices most that he conducted the première
performance of Aida in Cairo, to commemorate the
1871 opening of the new Cairo opera house. Verdi had
been a close friend since they met in Venice twenty
years before, and nearly twenty years after Aida he
nominated Bottesini as Director of the Parma
Conservatory, his last post, which he assumed only a
few months before his death in 1889.
Italian opera in the style of Donizetti and the
younger Verdi is obviously the fundamental language of
Bottesini’s instrumental works, and that means an
exaltation of melody above all else. The elaborate
chromatic harmony and motivic manipulation of a
Wagner, the subtle and abstract formal structures of a
Brahms, are not to be found. Rather, Bottesini’s music
insists on relatively straightforward singing, sometimes
in a declamatory mode, but mostly in chains of regular,
lyrical phrases, only loosely related motivically, often
dissolving into a mini-cadenza to close a section,
whereupon a fresh cycle commences. The first
challenge for a performer is to offer “purity of tone and
intonation, perfect taste in phrasing”, to borrow words
used to describe the composer’s own playing. The most
common virtuoso gesture is a rapid traverse of the
instrument’s whole range; and that range is greatly
extended on the high side by an exploitation of
harmonics (flute-like sounds produced by just touching
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the string at certain points, rather than pressing it to the
fingerboard). Double stops and busy passagework,
staple “tricks” of Dragonetti’s generation, are the
exception rather than the rule here.
Not surprisingly, the best source for most of
Bottesini’s works is Parma’s Conservatory library.
When he examined the holdings there, Joel Quarrington
found fair copies in Bottesini’s hand; that is, not
sketches or composition drafts, but final product,
perhaps intended to be an authoritative or archival
version. Of course, multiple authoritative versions often
exist: for example, a solo piece with accompaniment for
piano, or string quartet, or full orchestra. Since Bottesini
spent most of his career as a touring virtuoso, sometimes
travelling with a partner but even then often
collaborating with local players as arranged by the
concert promoter, it was important to be able to work
with varying resources. Those concerts were almost
always eclectic, “something for everyone”, like a
television variety show of the 1950s, and by modern
standards, protracted affairs. An 1865 London concert
included a symphonic overture and scherzo, a flute
piece, a piano duet, a waltz, two arias, and the Duetto
for clarinet and bass recorded here and that was all
before the interval.
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The Duetto for two basses is probably the earliest
and most etude-like work on this disc, from a set of
three dedicated to Bottesini’s teacher, Luigi Rossi. The
Concerto No. 2, sometimes referred to as in A minor, or
in B minor, for complicated reasons arising from old-
fashioned tuning conventions, is a fully mature work,
from the well proportioned, somewhat laconic first
movement, through the simply singing second, to the
third, driven by a rhythmic figure typical of the
polonaise (and the Cuban bolero).
Other selections emphasize the essential vocality of
Bottesini’s inspiration, most explicitly in the Bellini
Fantasia, but stylistically so in the pairings of bass,
always singing, now with clarinet, now with soprano.
The anonymous texts are routine bourgeois expressions
of popular Romantic sentiment; but in the case of Tutto
che il mondo the music is very well known - Chopin’s
Etude Op. 25, No. 7. The Bach transcription is perfectly
straightforward. Can there be any instrument without a
transcription of this piece? The Adagio melancolico
projects that characteristic elegiac mood, demanding a
virtuosity of feeling at least as much as of just
technique, that Bottesini perfected for many of his
stand-alone solo pieces.
Jeffrey L. Stokes
Joel Quarrington
Reviewing Joel Quarrington’s début recital for the International Society of Bassists
Oklahoma City convention in June 2007, England’s Double Bassist magazine said, “his
performance was mesmerizing - his trademark bel canto playing style brought an
otherworldly quality to Bottesini’s Elegy in D…he demonstrated impeccable articulation, a
rich tonal palette, absolute control and crystalline clarity. A memorable night…” Reviews
such as this have confirmed his reputation as one of today’s leading double bassists. Born in
Toronto, Joel Quarrington began playing the bass at the age of eleven and is a winner of the
Geneva International Competition. For over thirty years he has served as the Principal
Double Bassist of many ensembles, including the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Joel Quarrington
teaches at Montreal’s McGill University and in the summers, Mt. Orford Quebec, where his
master-classes have attracted players from around the world. He has performed with many
Photo: Fred Cattroll
of the world’s leading string quartets and is a regular performer with the Pinchas Zukerman
Chamber Players. In April 2005 he had the honour of playing the world première of John Harbison’s Concerto for
Bass Viol with the Toronto Symphony and Hugh Wolf. He performs on an Italian bass made in 1630 by the Italian
master, Santo Paolo Maggini.

Andrew Burashko
Since his brilliant début with the Toronto Symphony at the age of seventeen under the baton
Photo: John Launer

of Sir Andrew Davis, Andrew Burashko has established himself as one of the most sought-
after soloists in Canada. He has performed extensively around the world collaborating with
among others, conductors Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Pinchas Zukerman, Marin Alsop, Peter
Oundjian and Bramwell Tovey. Passionately dedicated to the music of our time as well as
the great piano master-works of the past, Andrew Burashko has developed a reputation for
versatility and brilliantly conceived programmes. He has given numerous Canadian and
world premières, including the Canadian première of Schnittke’s Piano Concerto. His
musical dexterity and commitment to building a future audience for classical music brought
him in 1998 to the artistic directorship of the Art of Time Ensemble, a chamber music
society comprised of the finest classical and jazz players on the Canadian scene. Andrew
Burashko is on the faculty of the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music
in Toronto.

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Harold Hall Robinson
An internationally acclaimed artist, Harold Hall Robinson is currently the principal
contrabassist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Prior to this he spent ten seasons as principal
bassist of the National Symphony Orchestra, eight seasons as associate principal of the
Houston Symphony Orchestra and three seasons as principal of the New Mexico Symphony
Orchestra. A prize-winner at the 1982 Isle of Man Solo competition, Harold Hall Robinson has
performed concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, Houston
Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, American Chamber
Orchestra and the Greenville South Carolina Orchestra. In addition he is known for his
outstanding recitals and master classes throughout the United States. He is currently on the
faculty of the Curtis Institute.
Photo: Chris Lee

James Campbell
Acclaimed by the Toronto Star as “Canada’s pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist”, James
Photo: Bruno Schrecker

Campbell has performed solo and chamber music concerts in 25 countries, has been soloist with
over sixty orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, the Russian
Philharmonic, and the Montreal Symphony and has performed Copland’s Clarinet Concerto
five times with Aaron Copland conducting. He has appeared with over thirty string quartets,
including the famous Amadeus Quartet when he replaced an ailing Benny Goodman for a tour
of California. He has made over forty recordings, including the Debussy Rhapsody with Glenn
Gould, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the première recording of the Berio
arrangement of Brahms’s F minor Sonata with the London Symphony. His recording of
Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet was chosen by the BBC and The Times in London as the best
available. He has been awarded a Juno (Canada’s Grammy), Canada’s Artist of the Year, the
Queen’s Jubilee Medal, and Canada’s highest honour, the Order of Canada. James Campbell has been Professor of
Music at Indiana University since 1988 and Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound since 1985.

Monica Whicher
Monica Whicher has been heard with orchestras and opera companies in Germany, Spain, the
Photo: Michael de Sadlier

United Kingdom, Asia, the United States and Canada. Her concerts and recitals are broadcast
frequently by CBC radio, and her recordings of Bach, Schubert, Hatzis, Somers and Greer can
be found on Marquis and other labels. Recent performances include the rôle of Dido in
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, The Governess in
Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and the Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Her
critically acclaimed performance of Mérope in Lully’s Persée can be seen on the EuroArts
DVD, and she appears as Telaïre on the Naxos recording of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux
(8.660118-19).

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9 Une bouche aimée Beloved lips

Une bouche aimée a dit à mon coeur: Beloved lips said to my heart:
“Viens, ô mon amour, ô toi, mon seul bonheur. “Come, O my love, O thou, my only joy.
Viens, ah! viens mon coeur, Come, ah, come, my heart,
ô toi, mon seul bonheur. O thou, my only joy.

Adieu les tristes automnes. Farewell sad autumns,

Voici venir le printemps. Here comes the spring.
La terre se couvre de fleurs, The earth is covered with flowers,
les rayons dorés ont tari ses pleurs. the golden rays have dried her tears.
Dans la feuille nouvelle In the new foliage
chante la tourterelle. sings the turtle-dove.
La sève des bourgeons entr’ouverts The sap of the half-opened buds
du parfum des bois des prés verts fills the air
remplit les airs. with the scent of the woods and of the green meadows.

Mon cher amour, ma vie, My dear love, my life,

ah! viens, mon seul bonheur, Ah! Come, my only joy,
mon amour, mon bonheur.” my love, my joy.”

Une bouche aimée a dit à mon coeur: Beloved lips said to my heart:
“Viens, ô mon amour, ô toi, mon seul bonheur. “Come, O my love, O thou, my only joy.
Viens, ah! viens mon coeur, Come, ah, come, my heart,
ô toi, mon seul bonheur, O thou, my only joy,
mon cher amour, ma vie. Viens mon coeur. my dear love, my life. Come my heart.
Viens, ô mon seul bonheur, Come, O my only joy,
Viens.” Come.”

0 Tutto che il mondo serra All that the world holds

Tutto che il mondo serra di più caro per me da me
s’invola, ah!
Oggi per sempre ed ogni gaudio perdo e ogni speranza,
Che l’amara terra dall’esilio feconda
Esser non puote se non d’affanno.
All that the world holds that is dearest to me
is slipping away from me, ah!
Today I lose for ever all joy and all hope
For my troubles serve only to feed
The bitter land of exile.

English translations by Keith Anderson

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 NAXOS

NAXOS
Giovanni Bottesini enjoyed a globe-trotting career as “the Paganini of the double bass”. He was also
a successful conductor and a composer, although only the music he wrote for his own instrument
has outlived him. Many of the works on this recording emphasize the essential bel canto quality of
Bottesini’s inspiration, most explicitly in the dazzling Bellini Fantasia, but also in the duets with
clarinet and soprano which demand virtuosity of both feeling and technique. The Concerto No. 2 is 8.557042
a fully mature work, from the somewhat laconic first movement, through the simply singing second,
BOTTESINI: Music for Double Bass and Piano • 2

BOTTESINI: Music for Double Bass and Piano • 2

to the third, driven by a rhythmic figure typical of the polonaise and the Cuban bolero. DDD
Giovanni
Playing Time
BOTTESINI
(1821-1889)
68:51

Music for Double Bass and Piano • 2

Gran Duetto No. 3 1 11:58 7 Duetto for Clarinet
1 Andantino 4:05 and Double Bass 4 9:43
2 Presto 7:53 8 Fantasia on Bellini’s
Concerto No. 2 2 14:22 Beatrice di Tenda 5 11:00
3 Moderato 5:28 9 Une bouche aimée 6 5:14
4 Andante 4:39 0 Tutto che il mondo serra:
5 Finale: Allegro 4:15 Chopin Terzetto (tr. Chopin:
6 Adagio melancolico ed Etude, Op. 25, No. 7) 7 4:47

www.naxos.com
Disc made in Canada. Printed and assembled in USA.
Booklet notes in English
Naxos Rights International Ltd.
 & 훿 2008
appassionato 3 6:35 ! Meditazione: Aria di Bach 8 5:13
Joel Quarrington, Double Bass
Andrew Burashko, Piano 2-8
Harold Hall Robinson, Double Bass 1
James Campbell, Clarinet 4
Monica Whicher, Soprano 6, 7
Sung texts and English translations included
The sung texts and translations can also be accessed at www.naxos.com/libretti/557042.htm
Recorded at Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto, Canada, on 16th February, 2004 (tracks 1-2);
at the Performing Arts Centre, The Country Day School, King City, Ontario, from 27th to 29th July, 2005
(tracks 3-8 and 11); and at Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, Toronto, on 3rd July, 2006 (tracks 9 and 10)
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Producers: Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver • Engineer: Norbert Kraft • Editor: Bonnie Silver
Editions used: I. Caimmi (tracks 1 and 2); Pollard/Slatford (tracks 3-5); Quarrington (tracks 6-11)
Booklet notes: Jeffrey L. Stokes • Cover image: The Raincloud by Antonio Fontanesi (1818-1882)
(Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Florence, Italy / www.bridgeman.co.uk)