Baldassare GALUPPI (1706-1785)
Keyboard Sonatas - Volume 3
Sonata in D minor, Illy 66 [10:27]
Allegro in C, Illy 30 [3:39]
Sonata in C minor, Illy 38 [5:56]
Sonata in F, Illy 36 [10:43]
Sonata in B flat, Illy 23 [8:30]
Sonata in A minor Illy deest [5:43]
Sonata in F, Illy 50 [3:45]
Sonata in A minor, Illy 43 [6:46]
Sonata in E, Illy 41 [9:14]
Matteo Napoli (piano)
rec. Music Theatre, Auckland University, New Zealand, 20-21 November 2010.
DDD
NAXOS 8.572672 [65:13]
This is the third volume in the Naxos tribute to the keyboard Sonatas of Baldassare
Galuppi, as performed by Italian pianist Matteo Napoli. Volumes 1 and 2 appeared
last year - see enthusiastic reviews here
and here.
Napoli's decision to perform the whole cycle on a modern pianoforte is sure
to raise eyebrows. Some, if not many, will feel that the Sonatas naturally
belong on a period instrument, whether harpsichord or fortepiano. The sonorities,
slender textures and delicate ornamentations of Galuppi's alternately late-Baroque
and forward-looking pre-Galant music inevitably lose something in translation
on a richly resonating piano.
On the other hand, Johann Sebastian Bach himself has, after all, been heard
many times on the modern piano; like those accounts, this is another way of
listening to Galuppi that takes nothing away from historically authentic performances
of the same. Moreover, those for whom the idiosyncratic tone of the harpsichord
or fortepiano holds little attraction will find plenty to be enthusiastic
about that they might otherwise have shunned.
Though there are certain similarities with the early keyboard pieces of Mozart,
Galuppi's music is most frequently reminiscent of Scarlatti, whose own Sonatas
are currently being recorded on a modern piano by Napoli's compatriot Carlo
Grante for the Music & Arts label - see review
of the first two 6-CD volumes. Ditto Naxos' ongoing multi-pianist cycle, currently
standing at volume 14 (8.572586).
Galuppi is at any rate justly famed for his huge contribution to opera buffa,
but he was also a prolific and popular composer of keyboard music, particularly
sonatas, of which there are now known to be over 130. His sound is original,
his musicianship masterly and mellifluous. Sonata after varied Sonata is brimming
with elegant melody and fluent invention, graceful and rewarding, and unblighted
by bravura for its own sake. It comes as no surprise that it was not only
Galuppi's opera music that was in great demand.
As in previous volumes, Napoli's elegant, sensitive recital consists of a
selection of Sonatas in various keys, ranging in length from four to eleven
minutes, with a mixture of works of three movements and two, plus a single
one- and four-movement item for good measure. This is not intended as a 'Complete
Sonatas' series, but who knows. Galuppi's almost total neglect until the end
of the 20th century merely highlights the typically mindless nature of musical
fashion.
This volume was recorded a year on from the first two, and sound quality is
now at its best - slightly dry, but the microphones are perfectly placed.
Veteran note-writer Keith Anderson’s biography of Galuppi is identical
with previous volumes, but there are fairly detailed notes on the works heard
here. The Venetian canal scene in the cover photo matches those on the first
two volumes.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Galuppi's almost total neglect highlights the typically mindless nature of
musical fashion.