Benedetto MARCELLO (1686-1739)
Piano Sonatas
Suonata III in G [7:02]
Suonata V in D minor [8:30]
Suonata VII in A minor [10:57]
Minuetto in D [1:39]
Suonata X in C minor [17:14]
Suonata IX in A [8:13]
Minuetto in C [1:39]
Andrea Bacchetti (piano)
rec. Fazioli Concert Hall, Sacile, Italy, April 2010. DDD
RCA RED SEAL 88697814662 [55:14]
Sony RCA's chosen title, 'Piano Sonatas', is something of an anachronism,
as is Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti's use of a modern pianoforte. Music-lovers
who prefer historical exactitude are probably unlikely to give this new release
much of a chance. That would be a pity for two reasons at least: first, because
any chance to listen to the inexplicably neglected Benedetto Marcello's music
should always be jumped at. Secondly, because Bacchetti gives a typically
stylish, thoughtful and expressive account of these five appealing and distinctive
Suonate. His phrasing and colouring is at the same time understated
and revelatory. His recent modern-piano recordings of Galuppi's Sonatas on
RCA Red Seal (review),
of Bach's English Suites on Decca (review)
and his Toccatas on Dynamic (review) were all highly praised. Here, the alien
sound of Bacchetti's instrument in historical terms is all but forgotten in
these sensitive, timeless explorations.
Marcello's elder brother Alessandro is probably better remembered nowadays,
chiefly for his Oboe Concerto in D minor. Benedetto's fine vocal music, both
sacred and secular, was popular until the 20th century. Musicologist Eleanor
Selfridge-Field, who provides the biographical essay for Marcello in New Grove,
refers to his "perfunctory involvement with instrumental music", but such
a remark belies the free-thinking modernity-through-simplicity of these almost
anti-Bachian works.
Selfridge-Field is also the author of 'The Music of Benedetto and Alessandro
Marcello: a Thematic Catalogue with Commentary on the Composers, Works and
Sources' (Oxford, 1990), and in recent times an 'SF' number has begun to be
attached to Marcello's works. They could have been of benefit here, where
some of these Sonatas may or may not be related or identical to those in his
lost op.3. What the accompanying notes explain, in a roundabout way, is that
these versions are fruits of a new edition, prepared from original manuscripts
held in the Marciana National Library in Venice by Bacchetti himself and by
Mario Marcarini, author of those notes.
The notes themselves are well written, if with a slight foreign accent in
translation, but also brief, with barely a mention of the music. A small note
on the back inlay indicates that there are "ROM extras on CD", and it is there
that the reader will find some historical background to the works and their
source - although the extra text would have added very few extra sides to
the booklet.
Such is the beauty of Marcello's Sonatas and the near-perfection of Bacchetti's
interpretations, that the listener is inevitably left wondering why the eighty
minutes of available CD space could not have been filled up more generously.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Bacchetti's near-perfect playing matched with the beauty of Marcello's sonatas.
see also review by Dominy Clements