Baldassare GALUPPI (1706-1785)
Keyboard Sonatas - Volume 1
Sonata in F, Illy 28 [11:55]
Sonata in F minor, Illy 9 [6:44]
Sonata in C minor, Illy 18 [1st movement] & Illy 4 [2nd movement] [6:33]
Sonata in C, Illy 57 [10:03]
Sonata in B flat, Illy 32 [7:20]
Sonata in G, Illy 53 [6:38]
Sonata in D ('E flat'), Illy 45 [9:57]
Sonata in C, Illy 98 [2:31]
Matteo Napoli (piano)
rec. Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand, March 2009. DDD
NAXOS 8.572263 [62:19]
Though Baldassare Galuppi is rightly famed for his huge contribution to opera
buffa, he was also a prolific and popular composer of keyboard music, particularly
sonatas. When British pianist Peter Seivewright released on the Divine
Art label a programme of Galuppi's keyboard sonatas in 1999 - reviewed
here - it was the first volume in a projected complete set running to
ten discs and 90 sonatas. So far, and possibly because of ill health (see
footnote), Seivewright appears to have got no further than volume 3 - see
review
- but in the last decade more sonatas have been unearthed, and there are now
known to be over 130. This is the first Naxos CD devoted to Galuppi's music,
and volume 1 of his keyboard sonatas. Volume 2 has not yet been released on
CD, but is available as a download.
One immediate question about this recording - major or minor, depending on
individual sensitivities - is the choice of a modern pianoforte (Steinway
D). There will doubtless be many who feel that Galuppi's sonatas belong on
a period instrument - whether harpsichord or fortepiano. The sonorities, slender
textures and delicate ornamentations of his alternately late-Baroque and forward-looking
pre-Galant music are sometimes partially lost in the lush, deep sound of Napoli's
piano. Nevertheless, within these self-imposed limitations, Napoli's performance
here is creditable - plenty of sensitivity, no misplaced showmanship.
There is no question, however, about Galuppi's masterly, mellifluous musicianship.
Sonata after sonata is packed with beautiful melody and fluent invention,
and it comes as no surprise that it was not only his opera music that was
in great demand. But though Galuppi was himself a keyboard virtuoso, this
is idiomatic music written with an eye on, or an ear to, the amateur player
- it is varied, beautiful and rewarding, without being technically overwhelming.
Often the music is quite reminiscent of Domenico Scarlatti - the outer movements
of the superbly imaginative Sonata in D, for example (incidentally
incorrectly catalogued by Hedda Illy in E), or the ebullient two-and-a-half
minute, one-movement Sonata in C, Illy 98. There are also reverberations
of C.P.E. Bach, as in the refined Sonata in F and the thoughtful Sonata
in F minor, and even of J.S. Bach, as in the Sonata in G.
But Galuppi is an original, without doubt, and Napoli's performance makes
this altogether a good choice for connoisseurs of 18th century keyboard music,
particularly those for whom the idiosyncratic colour of the harpsichord or
fortepiano holds little attraction.
Sound quality is generally high, although the Sonata in C, Illy 57
does have a couple of minor imperfections that sound suspiciously like edit
joins.
Byzantion
Galuppi is an original and Napoli's performance makes this a good choice for
connoisseurs of 18th century keyboard music.
Footnote
The reviewer refers to Peter Seivewright’s ongoing series having halted
at volume 3 ‘possibly due to ill health’. I want to point out
for the benefit of potential customers (and the music industry) that Peter
is very well indeed – he did in fact undergo surgery not too long ago
but is doing very well; his projects (which include several CDs of Bach, a
Reger disc and a series of American Piano Sonatas, have also been held up
due to his work commitments – he moved from Scotland to help set up
and manage the new Department of Music at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.
His fourth volume of Galuppi has been recorded and will appear in due course,
hopefully with the other projected volumes to follow a little more quickly
than heretofore.
Stephen Sutton (Divine Art)