Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music Chiara Minali

• Ignazio Spergher (1734 - 1808): Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1:
• 1Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro04:31
• 2Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: II. Andante sostenuto05:50
• 3Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro04:05
• Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1:
• 4Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro04:33
• 5Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino espressivo04:23
• 6Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro brillante03:13
• Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1:
• 7Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro04:49
• 8Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante03:48
• 9Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro vivace03:16
• Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1:
• 10Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro04:32
• 11Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino04:19
• 12Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro spiritoso03:38
• Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I
• 13Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro con brio04:10
• 14Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andante grazioso04:45
• 15Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro con brio03:48
• Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1:
• 16Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro05:09
• 17Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante03:48
• 18Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro04:22
• Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6:
• 19Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: I. Rondò - Allegretto02:46
• 20Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino04:44
• 21Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro svelto02:32
• Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6:
• 22Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro svelto02:51
• 23Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò - Andantino grazioso05:44
• 24Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: III. Presto02:54
• Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6:
• 25Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: I. Andante03:20
• 26Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: II. Amoroso03:53
• 27Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro con spirit03:44
• Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6:
• 28Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro aperto04:19
• 29Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò - Andante con brio04:16
• 30Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro vivace03:36
• Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6:
• 31Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro04:12
• 32Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino grazioso04:43
• 33Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro03:21
• Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6:
• 34Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro vivace02:13
• 35Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: II. Andante con moto02:28
• Ignazio Spergher:
• 36Allegro in C Major03:09
• Sonata in B-Flat Major:
• 37Sonata in B-Flat Major: I. Andantino con brio04:37
• 38Sonata in B-Flat Major: II. Adagio06:06
• 39Sonata in B-Flat Major: III. Allegro03:28
• Sinfonia in C Major:
• 40Sinfonia in C Major: I. Allegro03:18
• 41Sinfonia in C Major: II. Andantino03:50
• 42Sinfonia in C Major: III. Allegro con brio03:21
• 9 Sonatas for Organ:
• 439 Sonatas for Organ: I. Rondò-andantino mosso in C Major02:05
• 449 Sonatas for Organ: II. Andantino con brio in C Major02:17
• 459 Sonatas for Organ: III. Cantabile in B-Flat Major04:23
• 469 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Rondò-grazioso in B-Flat Major01:53
• 479 Sonatas for Organ: V. Allegro con brio in C Major02:18
• 489 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegretto moderato in B-Flat Minor03:34
• 499 Sonatas for Organ: VII. Allegro ma non tanto in F Major02:29
• 509 Sonatas for Organ: VIII. Senza indicazione in D Major02:26
• 519 Sonatas for Organ: IX. Andante grazioso in B-Flat Major03:14
• 526 Sonatas for Organ: I. Allegro in B-Flat Major01:51
• 536 Sonatas for Organ: II. Allegretto in F Major02:31
• 546 Sonatas for Organ: III. Spiritoso in D Major02:20
• 556 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Allegro in G Major02:36
• 566 Sonatas for Organ: V. Rondò brillante in A Major01:53
• 576 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegro vivace in C Major02:14
• 583 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: I. Andante espressivo in E-Flat Major03:09
• 593 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: II. Senza indicazione in C Major03:34
• 603 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: III. Andantino sostenuto in C Major03:24
• Ignazio Spergher:
• 61Pastorale in A Major07:04
• Total Runtime03:41:39

Info zu Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music

First recordings of sonatas for organ and harpsichord by a forgotten Italian composer on the cusp of the Baroque and Classical eras.

Ignazio – or Ignaz, in some sources – Spergher was born in 1734 in the northern Italian town of Treviso. There, by and large, though even before his death in 1804 his music had crossed national boundaries to delight audiences across Europe. As chapel master and then organist at the city’s cathedral in the late 1700s he produced an output of vocal and instrumental music, most of which was destroyed when the cathedral’s library was burnt down during air raids in 1944.

There remain, however, the six Op.1 Sonatas published in Venice in 1786 with which Chiara Minali begins her survey of Spergher’s surviving music, the most comprehensive yet. These are three-movement pieces written in the Venetian organ tradition of the 18th century. The manuscript of his Op.6 sonatas for harpsichord avoided the Chapter House holocaust by having been sent to Vienna in 1845, and then Minali completes the set with assorted sonatas from different sources, all of them attesting to Spergher’s lively invention.

Chiara Minali’s previous work for Brilliant Classics includes the complete organ sonatas of Benedetto Marcello: a 3CD set (BC95277) that was warmly welcomed in the Italian press for Minali’s lively sense of style, beautifully sprung rhythmic playing and lively choice of registration on a historically appropriate instrument.

On this recording she plays an organ made by Antonio Zanchi in the 18th century for the parish church of Paderno di Ponzano in the Veneto region which was Spergher’s home. The harpsichord sonatas were recorded on a modern copy of a 17th-century model in the Oratory of St Elizabeth in Verona.

Ignazio Spergher (1734-1808) spent his entire life in his native town Treviso, where he was a highly respected singer, keyboard player, teacher and composer, a pupil of the great theorist Giordano Riccati.

This 3CD set presents Spergher’s keyboard music, for both organ and harpsichord. The 6 organ sonatas Op. 1 are delightful works in classical/galante style, written in 3 movements fast-slow-fast. The fast movements contain contrasting episodes of “Tutti” and “Concertino”, whereas the slow movements abound in sweet cantilene melodies entrusted to the “vox humana” register.

The works for harpsichord are charming pieces used as “Hausmusik”, in the pleasing Venetian style of Galuppi and Luchesi. Played on the Bazzani-Aletti-Zanin organ of the Parish Church of Paderno (Treviso) built in 1903 by the Aletti brothers, embodying much of the earlier 1845 Bazzani organ. The harpsichord used is a copy of a Giusti instrument of 1681, made by Roberto Mattiazzio. The specifications of the instruments are included in the booklet.

Chiara Minali, organ, harpsichord

Chiara Minali
studied at the Dall’Abaco Conservatoire in Verona. In 2002 she graduated brilliantly in organ and organ composition under Alessio Corti. That same year she won first prize in the competition organized by the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona for newly graduated musicians. She then attended courses in harpsichord, obtaining a first-class diploma in 2005 under Sergio Vartolo. This was followed in 2010 by a Masters Degree in harpsichord at the Bonporti Conservatoire under A. Bugatti. She has also attended master classes in organ under Michael Radulescu and in harpsichord under Murray, Bellotti, Baumont, Astronio, Bonizzoni and Baroni. She played continuo in the early music course held at Brunico in 2005 at Villa Lagarina (Trento), and of the course of Baroque singing by Lia Serafini in the province of Verona in 2013-2014. With the Corelli Ensemble performed in Dortmund in 2006, in Berlin in 2009. In September 2009 she became third in the Terzo harpsichord competition, and the following year collaborated with the Compagnia Virtuosa vocal ensemble on a production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Pescara. She has also worked with the Monteverdi Conservatoire in Bolzano and the Dall’Abaco in Verona as harpsichord accompanist. From 1998 to 2007 she was titular organist at the church of San Giorgio in Braida (Verona), and from 2007 to 2013 at the Church of the Redentore in Verona. From 2005 to 2017 she taught organ at the Istituto Diocesano di Musica Sacra in the same city. Her career involves her in many concerts as a soloist and continuo player, collaborating with various instrumental and choral ensembles.

Booklet für Spergher: Organ and Harpsichord Music