MAY 19: CLEMENTI & CO.
Popular parlor music from London, Paris, & Colonial America, c. 1800.
featuring Dongsok Shin, fortepiano, with Leah Gale Nelson, violin
Music of Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) & his contemporaries,
performed on a recently restored fortepiano.
J.C. Bach – Carlo Antonio Campioni – Ignace Pleyel
PROGRAM:
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) – Op. 2, No. 1 & Op. 15, No. 2
J. C. Bach (1735-1782) – solo sonata t.b.d.
Carlo Antonio Campioni (1720-1788), Op. 4 No. 6
Ignace Pleyel (1757-1831), Op. 5, No. 1
Before Mozart and Haydn became household names, the composers on this program enjoyed immense popularity, performing in private homes and in public concerts, their music published in London, Paris and Amsterdam to meet public demand. Exploring the "new" keyboard instrument, the fortepiano, the music of these early-Classical composers ranges from the simple and straightforward to the complex figuration of melodic sophistication that foreshadows the Romantic style on the horizon of the 19th-century.
Using an original Clementi & Co. square piano, c. 1811, we hear the clarity of each instrument without restraint and in perfect balance. Perhaps this music fell out of favor as the instruments evolved into those of today, better suited for later repertoire. Here, the music is brought back to life with the clarity and youthful beauty of the original instruments.
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