The Birth of Bottesini

Crema, Lombardy

As December wore on that fateful year, the townspeople of Crema (a pleasant town on the plain east of Milan) grew alarmed to note that each day was shorter than the previous one. (Why they didn't note that this happens every year remains unknown.)

Then, on or near the Winter Solstice, Maria Bottesini was delivered of her first child, a boy.

And lo, the sun halted its southward march and the days began to lengthen. The young Bottesini was hailed as a Savior. This adulation prepared Giovanni well for his later life as as a virtuoso.

It is said that Domenico Dragonetti was in Crema at the times of Bottesini's births and urged the babe's parents to expose him in the nearby hills. This is possibly a fabrication spread by the Moristo.

• Bottesini's sister
• The young Bottesini at the Milan Conservatory
• Bottesini's death