SPERGHER: ORGAN & HARPSICHORD MUSIC – CHIARA MINALI (3 CDS) Brilliant Classics

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 release 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.

Disk 1
1Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 2Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: II. Andante sostenuto 3Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 4Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 5Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino espressivo 6Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro brillante 7Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 8Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante 9Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro vivace 10Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 11Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino 12Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro spiritoso 13Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro con brio 14Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Andante grazioso 15Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro con brio 16Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 17Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: II. Rondò andante 18Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 6 in C Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro
Disk 2
1Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: I. Rondò – Allegretto 2Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino 3Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro svelto 4Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro svelto 5Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò – Andantino grazioso 6Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 6: III. Presto 7Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: I. Andante 8Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: II. Amoroso 9Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro con spirit 10Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro aperto 11Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: II. Rondò – Andante con brio 12Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 4 in F Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro vivace 13Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro 14Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: II. Andantino grazioso 15Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 6: III. Allegro 16Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: I. Allegro vivace 17Ignazio Spergher: Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 6: II. Andante con moto 18Ignazio Spergher: Allegro in C Major 19Ignazio Spergher: Sonata in B-Flat Major: I. Andantino con brio 20Ignazio Spergher: Sonata in B-Flat Major: II. Adagio 21Ignazio Spergher: Sonata in B-Flat Major: III. Allegro
Disk 3
1Ignazio Spergher: Sinfonia in C Major: I. Allegro 2Ignazio Spergher: Sinfonia in C Major: II. Andantino 3Ignazio Spergher: Sinfonia in C Major: III. Allegro con brio 4Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: I. Rondò-andantino mosso in C Major 5Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: II. Andantino con brio in C Major 6Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: III. Cantabile in B-Flat Major 7Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Rondò-grazioso in B-Flat Major 8Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: V. Allegro con brio in C Major 9Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegretto moderato in B-Flat Minor 10Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: VII. Allegro ma non tanto in F Major 11Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: VIII. Senza indicazione in D Major 12Ignazio Spergher: 9 Sonatas for Organ: IX. Andante grazioso in B-Flat Major 13Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: I. Allegro in B-Flat Major 14Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: II. Allegretto in F Major 15Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: III. Spiritoso in D Major 16Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: IV. Allegro in G Major 17Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: V. Rondò brillante in A Major 18Ignazio Spergher: 6 Sonatas for Organ: VI. Allegro vivace in C Major 19Ignazio Spergher: 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: I. Andante espressivo in E-Flat Major 20Ignazio Spergher: 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: II. Senza indicazione in C Major 21Ignazio Spergher: 3 Sonatas from the Fondo Sartori: III. Andantino sostenuto in C Major 22Ignazio Spergher: Pastorale in A Major