Hardly a household name, Esposito, though born in the Naples area,
was a significant figure in the Irish musical world for practically the
whole of his professional life. He was a teacher, conductor and composer.
James Joyce was numbered among his friends. I owe it to Malcolm
Macdonald’s illuminating and clearly deeply researched liner-note that
I can tell you that in the 1890s Esposito conducted the Moscow premiere of
Mussorgsky’s
Khovanschina and the world première of
Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Sadko. His numerous pupils included Hamilton
Harty. It was the Harty connection that meant that Esposito’s name was
not completely unknown to me. He gets an honourable mention in David
Greer’s (editor)
Hamilton Harty: His Life and Works
(Blackstaff, 1979) and no doubt will receive further slipstream in Jeremy
Dibble’s imminent
Hamilton Harty - Musical Polymath (Boydell
& Brewer, 2013). Harty was to play an honoured role in the Esposito
story. He conducted the première of his teacher’s Piano
Concerto in 1913 and was the dedicatee of Esposito’s Third Violin
Sonata. The Piano Concerto sounds as if it might be a ‘natural’
for Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series.
I thought that these Harty-centred references in the Greer book
would be the last I would hear of Esposito. Wrong. This is, however, the
first recording of any of his works; I would be happy to hear of any others.
After all, his work-list includes a cantata for solo singers, chorus and
orchestra,
Dierdre (1897) and a
Sinfonia Irlandese or
Symphony on Irish Airs (1902); Harty was to write his own
Irish
Symphony in 1924. To this we can add an orchestral Irish Suite and two
one-act operas,
The Tinker and the Fairy and
The Post Bag.
There are said to be plenty of songs, chamber music and pieces for solo
piano.
The
First Sonata’s lovely first movement is in fresh
and constant song - a blend of Brahms, Fauré and
bel canto
although the violin’s tone could have been more fruity. The
Lento is a reflective meditation yet accommodating passing grey
clouds. It is followed by a vivaciously chafing
Allegro with a calmer
central aside and a rhetorical finish. The
Second Sonata is also in
three movements. We start with a capriciously twisting and turning
Allegro moderato. The mood is troubled and restless rather than
‘allegro’. The succeeding
Andantino is a delicately
dancing faery creature. The finale is a confident
Con fuoco with
glittering work for the piano and a typically triumphant pay-off. The
Third Sonata does not break expectations raised by the two earlier
sonatas, despite being written in the 1920s - just five years before its
composer’s death. Delicacy and darkness are in play in the first of
its four movements. The two short central movements are a halting
Allegro
moderato and a pensive
Andante. The finale is a slowly flowing
and smiling
Allegretto grazioso. The
Cello Sonata takes us
back to the late 1890s - then again, these works never really left that
haven. This is satisfying and polished, mellifluously Brahmsian. It’s
very well played indeed as are the violin sonatas. The writing overall in
these works is generally fairly conventional although Esposito’s
predilection for gently thoughtful slow movements with pauses along the way
leaves a memorable impression.
We owe thanks to all who made this project a reality. Particular
recognition is due to Mia Cooper who re-discovered these scores while
scanning the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s scores for its online
catalogue. She is an eloquent advocate and her shared delight in these
discoveries is patent. Champs Hill, producer/engineer Michael Ponder and all
the various artists here are also to be thanked for not stopping with the
three violin works. The pleasing Cello Sonata takes this disc to approaching
eighty minutes.
An eloquent, generously-timed and valuable summation of the work of
an all-but unknown Irish composer of Brahmsian sympathies.
Rob Barnett
Postscript
I am grateful to Peter Caffrey for pointing out that in fact a selection of Esposito's piano music has been surveyed on CD by Miceal O'Rourke. His all-Esposito recital, running to some 79 minutes, can be heard on Chandos CHAN 9675.
