Until 20 years ago, the figure of Antonio Salieri seemed destined to remain under a cloud of widespread disrepute, in the shadow of his complex relationship with Mozart and unsubstantiated criminal allegations that have come down to us through a thread that runs from Aleksandr Pushkin’s poetic drama Mozart and Salieri (1830), later set to music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1897), to Miloš Forman’s famous film Amadeus (1984). In reality, Salieri, in late 18th-century Vienna, enjoyed a stature that Wolfgang could only dream of: court composer, conductor of the Italian opera and, above all, maestro di cappella of the imperial court – in other words organiser and manager of the Hapsburgs’ entire musical life.
An esteemed teacher and founder of the Vienna Conservatory, he had among his pupils Beethoven, Hummel, Schubert, Liszt, Meyerbeer and Czerny, and in the course of a long compositional career he created more than 40 works for musical theatre, numerous sacred and vocal compositions, as well as a smaller number of symphonic and chamber works. The best-known section of Salieri’s instrumental production consists of the six concertos for one or more soloists, among them the two for keyboard included here; these are works that the composer did not see fit to print, and the manuscripts are preserved in the Austrian National Library.
The Concertos in C and B flat were written by the 23-year-old composer in 1773 for solo ‘cembalo’ and an orchestra consisting of two oboes, two horns, strings and basso continuo. As Danilo Prefumo, author of valuable writings on Salieri’s instrumental works, warns, ‘for Italian musicians, the term cembalo could at the time indifferently indicate harpsichord and fortepiano’. Listening to and analysing these two works reveals a balance pursued and achieved between a typically Viennese sense of measure and attention to structure, and bursts of whimsy, ornamentality and gallantry akin to the expressivity of the London (Johann Christian) Bach. The solo writing never makes truly virtuosic demands, although it does require agility and a crisp, pronounced timbre.
The Sonata in C for harpsichord is the only composition of its kind, as far as we know, in Salieri’s legacy, and it is given here in its first recording. It is unusually subdivided into six concise movements, all set in the same key and characterized by an elementary harmonic progression. The linearity of the language, the transparency of the melodic line and the ease of execution indicate a score that might have been a keyboard sketch of the embryo of a Serenata or Cassazione, two genres that are often attested in the composer’s catalogue.
Other information:
- Recorded September 2024 in Sacile (Italy)
- The Sonata in C appears in its first-ever recording
- Catena plays a Fazioli F278 piano
- Booklet in English contains liner notes by Umberto Berti and profiles of the soloist, ensemble and conductor
- Italian liner notes available at brilliantclassics.com
- Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) was an Italian composer and conductor, famous in his time for his operas and sacred music, but less known today for his instrumental works. His reputation has been clouded by rumors of rivalry with Mozart, which modern scholarship largely discredits. Salieri was a highly respected court composer in Vienna, and while he was primarily recognized for his vocal music, he also composed several instrumental pieces, including piano concertos.
- Salieri's piano concertos, though not as numerous or as widely celebrated as those by contemporaries like Mozart, offer insight into the classical style of the late 18th century. His Piano Concerto in B-flat major, composed in the 1770s, is one of his few surviving works for keyboard and orchestra. It reflects the elegance and balance typical of the Classical era, with clear melodic lines and a restrained yet expressive use of harmony.
- Unlike Mozart's more virtuosic concertos, Salieri’s piano concertos focus on lyrical expression rather than technical display. His concertos often feature a dialogue between the soloist and orchestra, emphasizing melodic beauty over complexity.
- Played by Italian pianist Costantino Catena with the Accademia D’Archi Arrigoni, conducted by Giulio Arnolfi. In Luca Ciammarughi’s book on pianists Catena is credited with 'combining virtuoso chiselling with a cantabile of absolute sonorous beauty."
