Cherubini: Six Sonatas for Fortepiano

Pierini, Simone

96246

In the second half of 18th century, keyboard music in Tuscany experienced a flourishing period, in which many composers published music in a new style, close to the developments of the so-called Classical style in Vienna. Many of these composers wrote music for both the fortepiano and the harpsichord: the former, which was invented some decades before right in Florence by the Paduan harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731), rose to an incredible degree of popularity in the last decades of the century, at the expense of the latter, which experienced the last moments of his glorious history.

The Florence-born composer Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) found the opportunity to establish himself as a young composer by writing these Sei Sonate per il Cimbalo, publishing them in Florence around 1780. This is the first published work by Cherubini and also his only major contribution to this genre of music. When he later moved to Paris he mainly composed operas and symphonic repertoire.

The style of these 6 sonatas is in the musical fashion of the time: they all consist of two movements, the first one being in sonata-form, the second a Rondò made of two contrasting episodes with a da capo section: usually, the second theme of the Rondò is characterised by a highly virtuosic writing, consisting of rapid scales, arpeggios, and octave leaps.

Born in Rome in 1996, Simone El Oufir Pierini began studying music at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome, with highest honors, and consequently took part in masterclasses and post-graduate courses. He afterwards grew interest in historically informed piano practice, attending masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Stefano Fiuzzi. Subsequently, his interest about historical keyboards in general grew further, and he began studying harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. He builds an active concert career, and this recording marks his CD debut for Brilliant Classics.

CD

7.02.2023

5028421962467