"Opp.?" What is this Dynamic?

[Gamestar721]

So, I have a very strange question, and it doesn't necessarily relate to Finale, but I need to go to a place filled with musicians to answer this question because I cannot figure it out, and my buddy and I have asked every music professional we know and we have nothing.

In my buddy's bass solo, Elegy in C by Giovanni Bottesini, there is a weird marking next to two of the "p" in the piece and it says "Opp." We looked it up in several music dictionaries and the only thing it brings up is that it's the abbreviation of the plural of "Opus." Now, that cannot be it because it's in the middle of the piece. We have no idea. Could you all help us with this mystery?

[motet]

I've never seen it, but my guess is that it's an editiorial mark indicating something not in the original but added by an editor. "Opportuno" means "appropriate" in Italian. Just a guess.

[Peter Thomsen]

… In my buddy's bass solo, Elegy in C by Giovanni Bottesini, there is a weird marking next to two of the "p" in the piece and it says "Opp." We looked it up in several music dictionaries …

Instead of looking in music dictionaries I suggest looking in an italian dictionary.

Generally music dictionaries are written by musicians.
Musicians who are not italians, know only little of the italian language.

My guess is that it could be “oppùre“ which means “or”, indicating an alternative.

[BuonTempi]

Can you show us a scan/photo of the relevant passage?

[David Ward]

Might it be an abbreviation for oppure = ‘or’ or ‘otherwise’. It is a viable alternative word for ossia often used by Italian composers and indeed sometimes by opera and vocal composers who are not Italian.

Ah! I missed the last line of Peter's post. He is likely to be right: I use the word oppure myself for alternative vocal lines because of its association with Italian opera (with which I can safely assume my singers will be familiar).

[boldest06]

I think it refers to the slur. The slur above or below. Or in italian = Oppure (Opp.)

[Jay Emmes]

It stands indeed for the alternative bowing, as boldest06 demonstrates. "Opp." is rarely used. More commonly used are "ossia" or "ovvero" (ovv.)

[Gamestar721]

Yes, the "oppure" is correct, a Bassist on Reddit informed us and I forgot I post this question here lol. Thanks for the help guys!