A most attractive novelty is the charming little Sonata n° 4 by Giovanni Battista Pescetti, presented here in its first recording. Pescetti, born in Venice about 1704, is one of but many prolific composers whose modest talents have been completely obliterated by the towering genius of Bach, Handel and others of his more celebrated contemporaries. Following Handel's lead, Pescetti emigrated to England late in 1736. Settling in London, he became the manager of [and wrote music for] "The Opera of the Nobility", a troupe functioning at the Haymarket in bitter competition with Handel's company over at Covent Garden. Unfortunately for both gentlemen, there was no longer a future for Italian opera in England. The ribald, satiric, roaring popular "Beggar's Opera" had sounded the death knell for the florid Italianate style some eight years earlier, and it was now just a matter of completing the funeral arrange- ments. Handel forlornly produced a few new operas, as did Pescetti, but their creations played to empty houses. Handel, of course, bounced back from apparent disaster to attain ever greater heights of popularity [not to mention immortality] as a composer of oratorio. Pescetti, less flexible, could not manage so deft a transition. He stayed on in London as a theatrical manager, then returned to Venice, where he remained in comparative obscurity, as one of the organists at St. Marks, until his death in 1766. The C minor Sonata is one of several which Pescetti wrote for harpsichord during his London sojourn, and had published there in 1739. Uncomplicated in style or construction, it is all the more enticing for its utter lack of pretension. Its‘ opening movement is especially appealing — vigorous, bright and cheerful all the way through. The slow section meanders a bit, but the intriguing melodic turns and syncopated rhythms maintain interest, until the scampering Finale swirls the piece home in the best Scarlattian tradition...
Robert Sherman (from the original Liner Notes)
Sophie Svirsky
Piano Recital
Tracks
Giovanni Battista Pescetti
(1704-1766)
Sonata n° 4 in C minor
1 I. Allegro ma non presto 2:33
2 II. Moderato 5:35
3 III. Presto 1:08
Georg Friedrich Haendel
(1685-1759)
4 Chaconne with Variations in G major 8:42
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue, BWV 903
5 Fantasy 6:12
6 Fugue 4:40
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
7 Fantasia in C minor, K. 396 6:37
*
Sophie Svirsky - p
Recorded ca 1968