Wednesday 3 April 2013

Anton Eberl

Like Schubert, Anton Eberl was a genuine Viennese, who was born and died in the imperial city.
A pupil and friend of Mozart, he was something of a rival of Beethoven, both as piano virtuoso and composer. After Mozart's death he had supported his friend's widow, Konstanze for many years. Finally he could evade her influence; in 1797 he went to St. Petersburg and started a carrier as a teacher and composer at the tsar's court. Back in Vienna, he composed an impressive oeuvre after 1803. In 1807 he died of blood-poisoning. His piano music, as far as has been determined, consists of sonatas, sets of variations, fantasies, rondos, dances etc. Further he wrote four piano concertos, five symphonies, chamber music, lieder and some works for the stage.
Review of Eberl's works by his contemporaries compared his symphonies and piano concertos - among them the Concerto in C major op.32 premiered by Eberl himself in 1803 and recorded here for the first time - with those of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Eberl's piano music exhibits not only an early dependence upon the influence of Mozart, but also his departure from the style of his teacher for the more romantic idiom od the early 19th century.




Tuesday 2 April 2013

Monday 1 April 2013

Clementi
toccata or sonata?
The mystery of opera XI
Answer? He wrote both and were listed under opus 11. The question is, did he listed it himself, or have been wrongly listed by his predecessors? There is an autograph copy according to RISM. Anyway, the sonata has been omitted in opus 11 according to Litolff edition, but I found it in a book of Clementi sonatas in the Spanish library. The lucky thing is, Shelley and Spada recorded it.

Piano Sonata in E-flat major op.11/1
Allegro con grazia



Rondo (Allegro spiritoso)