Fantasia ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’;
Romanza drammatica;
Introduzione e bolero;
Romanza: Une bouche aimée *;
Capriccio di bravura;
Elégie in D;
Fantasia ‘Beatrice di Tenda’;
Grande Allegro di Concerto

Thomas Martin (double bass),
Anthony Halstead (piano)
Jacquelyn Fugelle (soprano) *


Giovanni Bottesini enjoyed a globe-trotting career as “the Paganini of the double bass” but was also an accomplished and respected conductor in Europe.

When conducting operas Bottesini would often perform fantasies on the evening’s entertainment during the intermission. Two such fantasies, ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ and ‘Beatrice di Tenda’, are virtuosic tours de force in which the complex double bass figurations mimic the coloratura vocal writing of the day.

In keeping with this vocal style, this recording also includes the song Une bouche aimée with double bass obbligato, most likely performed on one of Bottesini’s frequent concert tours with various leading sopranos of the day.

“It's all easy and delightful to digest, especially if you like a good tune, and calculated to disperse any elephantine image you may have of the double-bass, a revelation in fact…Of the orchestral playing and the recording I can find only good things to say; the double-bass is comfortably audible, with its royal-purple sounds, but in believable perspective.”
Gramophone