DAVIDE BOTTO
(Italie)
Orchestre de Turin /
Conservatoire Giuseppe Verdi

   Davide Botto is Principal double bass of the Orchestra Teatro Regio of Turin and Professor of double bass at the city’s State Conservatory.

Born in 1965, he studied under Elio Veniali, receiving his degree in double bass with full marks at the age of eighteen. He went on to study with Franco Petracchi, first at the Accademia Walter Stauffer in Cremona and then at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, where he obtained his Diploma di Merito. Last but not least an important role in his instrumental training belongs to Thomas Martin.

   In 1983 he was selected for the European Community Youth Orchestra with which he toured the most important European and Asian cities under Leonard Bernstein and Claudio Abbado. Successeful in many orchestral auditions, finally he get the position of Principal double bass in Turin’s Opera House. As a Principal double bass he has been invited to play with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana of Lugano, the OSN RAI of Turin, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala of Milan and the Accademia of Santa Cecilia in Rome.

As a soloist he performed both with the piano and the orchestra the most important pieces of the Italian double bass composers, such as Bottesini and Rota, in Italy and abroad.

   In 2009 he received the “Carlo Capriata Prize”, awarded annually to a distinguished Italian double bass player for his career.

   In 2011 he recorded Rota’s Divertimento concertante for the the British label Chandos with the conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the Filarmonica ‘900 del Teatro Regio of Turin, getting worldwide appreciation (BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, International Record Review, Ritmo, Classic Voice, Internazionale, Archi Magazine, The Record Geijutsu). For the British label Chandos he has also recorded music by Bottesini, containing among others the unreleased piece Capriccio a due contrabbassi. His last recordings are Carlo Rossaro’s Fantasia per contrabbasso e pianoforte and Bottesini’s Passione amorosa in duo with Catalin Rotaru.

   He held masterclasses in several Italian Conservatories, at the home of NHK Orchestra, Tokyo, at the University of Georgia, Athens USA, at the Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, at the Juilliard School and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and at the ESMAR Academy in Valencia, Spain. He is the author of The way of double bass, an educational text about the learning process on the double bass.