95646 ferrari booklet 03 by Klassiek.nl

95646

FERRARI Sonatas & Balletti

Stefania Neonato fortepiano

Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari 1763-1842 1. Caprice in C minor Op.8 4’04 Sonata in C Op.10 No.1 for Metternich 2. I. Allegro spiritoso 7’20 3. II. Andantino con espressione 5’37 4. III. Scherzando 4’24 Three sonatas and 6 Balletti Op.12 for Cobelli Sonata No.1 in F 5. I. Allegro molto 5’29 6. II. Allegretto scherzando 2’58 Sonata No.2 in C 7. I. Allegro 8. II. Rondo: Allegretto

7’08 2’39

Sonata No.3 in G 9. I. Andantino con moto 10. II. Rondo: Allegretto

5’07 3’05

6 Balletti 11. I. Balletto Minuetto: sostenuto 0’59 12. II. Inglesina: Allegretto con spirito 1’37 13. III. Walzen: Allegro 1’30 14. IV. Lambridge joy: Allegretto con moto 0’58 15. V. Minuetto: Andante 0’57 16. VI. Inglesina: Allegretto 0’58 Sonata Op.9 No.3 in A minor for Clementi 17. I. Spiritoso 18. II. Andantino: Tema con Variazioni

Stefania Neonato fortepiano

5’11 6’21

For those unacquainted with Ferrari and unfamiliar with his music, a first encounter can be disorienting. Ferrari's keyboard works represent a synthesis of the styles circulating around Europe—Great Britain included—at the turn of the nineteenth century. His compositions reveal both his admiration for Mozart and his own tendencies towards Classicism, in dialogue now with the Galant, now with the pronounced melodic traits of the Italian Operatic style, and now with the virtuosic formulae of the new piano music associated with Muzio Clementi. In 1801, Clementi published his celebrated “Piano School,” the Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte. Compared to the more conservative styles of much late Baroque and early Classic keyboard writing, Clementi realized a more idiomatic and characteristic language for the pianoforte. Ferrari was quick to adopt this new Clementian idiom, combining classical forms with highly virtuosic elements. Ferrari's three groups of Sonatas (Op.9, Op.10 and Op.12) display his enthusiasm for and his facility with a wide range of styles. The variety is such that it is difficult to believe that the three sonatas of Op.12—dedicated to his cousin Clemente Cobelli, and printed with 6 Balletti for domestic use—date back to the same year (1795) as the more mature sonatas dedicated to Muzio Clementi and to Pauline von Metternich. In the Op.12 Cobelli sonatas, Ferrari works within an Italian, Galant style; accompanied melody predominates. There is none of the drama of the A minor sonata dedicated to Clementi, with its clear differentiation between a tumultuous first theme and its more cantabile second subject. While the frontispiece of the Op.8 Caprice announces that the piece is intended either “pour le clavecin ou le pianoforte,” the Caprice undoubtedly addresses the new power and dynamic range of the piano. Its unresolved, suspended conclusion on the dominant suggests that the Caprice belongs in the tradition of improvisatory pieces to be played as introductions to more orthodox forms—sonatas, for instance. In order to highlight this “prelude-like” quality of the Caprice, in this recording the Sonata in C Major from Op.10 follows the Caprice without interruption. The Sonata itself shows 3

features of Ferrari's more mature style—features reflecting the influence of Haydn, Clementi and the “London Pianoforte School.” The fullness of the chords and the accompanimental devices and textures reflect the distinct conception of the English pianos, instruments capable of a fuller and enduring cantabile tone, a sound more suitable to the larger spaces of public concert halls. The instrument used in this recording is a replica of a five-and-a-half octave Walter & Sohn 1805 ca., built by Paul McNulty in 2008. Its range can accommodate the Sonata in C Major, sustaining at the same time its fuller, rounder sonority. On the other hand, this instrument also demonstrates well the characteristics of the Viennese piano school—the shorter and sharper tone required in the Cobelli sonatas and in the sonata dedicated to Clementi, characteristics bound to the clearer aesthetic of Viennese classicism. Ferrari's work spans this crucial stylistic watershed in the emergent piano repertoire.

The “Ferrari Opere Scelte” is an initiative of the Accademia di Musica Antica in Rovereto, Ferrari's hometown in Italy. In 2013 the Accademia marked the 250th anniversary of Ferrari's birth by launching a new series of publications and recordings, in order to draw international attention to Ferrari and his music, and to stimulate work on a much-needed, updated catalogue with consistent dates of composition and publication. Ferrari was a travelling musician: he soon left Rovereto for Naples, where he studied with Paisiello and Latilla. He was encouraged and sustained within aristocratic circles, and he was active as an opera composer. In 1787 he moved to Paris, and after the Revolution he settled in London, where he would live out the next fifty years. Pedagogue, voice coach, pianist and composer, Ferrari left to us a substantial body of instrumental and vocal chamber music, operas and insertion arias, and methods for music theory and voice. His autobiography, Aneddoti piacevoli e interessanti occorsi nella vita di Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (London, 1830) is a precious source of information about European musical life at the turn of the century.

Accademia di Musica Antica Rovereto in collaboration with Comune di Rovereto Comunità della Vallagarina Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto 4

Born in Trento, Italy, Stefania Neonato graduated in piano at her town’s Conservatory and received a BA degree in Foreign Languages at Trento University. She went on studying piano with Alexander Lonquich, Riccardo Zadra and Leonid Margarius, earned her Fortepiano Master Degree at the Imola International Academy under Stefano Fiuzzi and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance Practice under Malcolm Bilson at Cornell University. In April 2013 she was appointed Professor of Fortepiano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2007 she got top prize and Audience Prize at the International Fortepiano Competition “Musica Antiqua” in Bruges. She plays at some of the most important Early Music Festivals (Bruges –Van Vlaanderen, Graz – Styriarte, Rovereto – Mozart Festival, Bruxelles – Klarafestival, Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden, Boston-Early Music Festival, Kölner Fest für alte Musik, Regensburg – Tage der Alten Musik), and concert seasons (Münster – Erbdrostenhof, Bologna – Accademia Filarmonica, Brescia – Teatro Grande, Firenze – Accademia B. Cristofori, Padova – Amici della Musica, GOG – Genova, Madrid – Juan March Foundation, Cornell Concert Series, Boston – Tufts University, Zagreb – Cristoforium, Rome – Oratorio del Gonfalone, Vienna – Brahms Saal). Her recitals are broadcast live by important radio stations such as: Rai Tre (Italy), Radio Clasica (Spain), Ö1 (Austria), WDR3 (Germany), Klara Radio (Belgium), WCNY, New York. 6

Stefania Neonato has written articles and reviews for “Early Music” (Oxford Journals) and “Keyboard Perspectives” (Westfield Center). Her research, focusing on piano aesthetic at the turn of the 19th century, has been presented at Columbia University (New York), McGill University (Montreal), Bruford College (London) and at Cornell University. Her repertoire ranges from Classicism to the 20th century; five recordings mark Stefania Neonato’s career featuring solo and chamber music literature on period pianos. Active as pedagogue around the world with seminars and masterclasses on performance practice, Stefania Neonato was in the jury at the first two editions of the International Fortepiano Competition “G. G. Ferrari” in Rovereto, Italy (2012, 2016). www.stefanianeonato.com