Luciano Sgrizzi (30 October 1910 – 11 September 1994) was an Italian harpsichordist, organist, pianist and composer.
Life and career
Luciano Sgrizzi was born in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, from whose Philharmonic Academy he graduated as a pianist in 1923. He toured South America for three years, then returned to Italy to continue his organ and composition studies. He gained a second piano diploma in 1931 from the Conservatory of
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
. Not wanting to be associated with the
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
regime, he left Italy and studied musicology and composition with
Albert Bertelin in Paris.
He settled in Switzerland, where he remained throughout the Second World War, working as pianist and organist for
Swiss-Italian Radio in
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
(with which he worked until 1974), and also as a literary critic, writing plays and arranging literary works for the radio. In 1946 he became interested in the
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, and devoted himself thereafter to the study of early music. He performed with the
Società Cameristica di Lugano from 1950 to 1960. Salzburg, Ascona, Stresa, Spoleto, Rome, Milan, Paris, Liege, Flanders and Geneva were some of the festivals where he appeared as harpsichordist or pianist.
He had been publishing his own compositions since 1933, but in 1960 devoted himself full-time to the transcription and editing of 17th- and 18th-century Italian music. His editions included the of
Benedetto Marcello
Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.
Life
Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of a noble family and in his compositions he is f ...
, and by
Alessandro Scarlatti
Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera.
...
.
He made a number of recordings, of which seven were awarded the
Grand Prix du Disque
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...
. These included the complete concertos of
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...
and
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
for solo harpsichord, and many of the sonatas of
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...
.
In 1980 he was named Commendatore of the
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-ranking ...
and in 1985 was named Officier of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
by French Cultural Minister
Jack Lang. He died in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
, (Monaco), where he had lived for the last few years of his life.
Compositions
* ''Dancing Song: Valzer'' (1933)
* Concerto for piano and orchestra (1935)
* String trio (1935)
* Concerto per orchestra (1936)
* ''Impressioni'' (1936)
* ''Introduction and Scherzo'', flute and piano (1937)
* ''Paesaggi'' (1951)
* ''Suite Napoletana'' (1951)
* ''Englische Suite nach Werken der Virginaliste'' (English Suite; 1952, orchestra)
[Universal Edition]
/ref>
* ''Suite Belge'' (1952; orchestra; ''d'après des œuvres de clavecinistes belges du 18ème siècle'')[
* '' Viottiana'', divertimento (1954)
* Sinfonietta Rococo (1956)
* ''Elegy and Scherzo'', flute, bassoon and piano (1957)
* ''Suite-Serenata'' (1958)
* ''Ostinati'', piano (1958).
]
Recordings
* Eighteenth-century Italian harpsichord music (1966)
* Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
: '' Péchés de vieillesse'' (1967; 9 selections, played on piano)
* Rossini: ''Petite Messe Solennelle
Gioachino Rossini's ''Petite messe solennelle'' (Little solemn mass) was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more ...
'' (1969; with Hanneke van Bork, Margaret Lensky, Serge Maurer, James Loomis, Chorus of the Società Cameristica di Lugano; Luciano Sgrizzi, Georges Bernand, pianos; Bruno Canino
Bruno Canino (born 30 December 1935) is an Italian classical pianist, harpsichordist and composer.
Early life
Bruno Canino was born in Naples, Italy in 1935, where he studied piano with Vincenzo Vitale. He continued his musical education in ...
, harmonium; Edwin Loehrer, conductor)
* Music for two harpsichords (1970; with Huguette Dreyfus
Pauline Huguette Dreyfus (30 November 1928 – 16 May 2016) was a French harpsichordist.
Biography
Dreyfus was born in Mulhouse, Alsace, France, on 30 November 1928 to Fernand and Marguerite Dreyfus. The doctor incorrectly wrote Pauline Hugu ...
; works by Johann Christoph Bach
Johann Christoph Bach (baptised – 31 March 1703) was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. He was born at Arnstadt, the son of Heinrich Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's first cousin once removed and the first cousin of J.S. ...
, Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...
, and Johann Ludwig Krebs
Johann Ludwig Krebs (baptized 12 October 1713 – 1 January 1780) was a German Baroque musician and composer for the pipe organ, harpsichord, other instruments and orchestras. His output also included chamber music, choral works and concertos ...
)
* Muzio Clementi
Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England.
Encourag ...
: 3 Sonatas and 10 Waltzes (1970)
* Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
: Sonatas for piano; Fantasia in C major (1970; 4 sonatas, played on hammerklavier)
* ''The Iberian followers of Domenico Scarlatti'' (1970; harpsichord; works by Padre Antonio Soler, Carlos Seixas
José António Carlos de Seixas (; 11 June 1704 – 25 August 1742) was a pre-eminent Portuguese composer of the 18th century. An accomplished virtuoso of both the organ and the harpsichord, Seixas succeeded his father as the organist for Old Cat ...
, and Manuel Biasco de Nebra)
* Clementi: ''Clementi interprété au piano par Luciano Sgrizzi'' (1973)
* Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
: Concertos in F major and E flat major, for piano, harpsichord, and orchestra (1973; with Robert Veyron-Lacroix
Robert Veyron-Lacroix (13 December 1922 in Paris – 2 April 1991 in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine)) was a French harpsichordist and pianistPâris, Alain. Robert Veyron-Lacroix. In: ''Dictionnaire des interprètes''. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, ...
, piano; Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard
Jean-François Paillard (12 April 1928 – 15 April 2013) was a French conductor.
He was born in Vitry-le-François and received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won first prize in music history, and the Salzburg Moza ...
, conductor)
* C. P. E. Bach: Six sonatas with varied repeats (1980)
* Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
: ''Ercole amante
''Ercole amante'' (''Hercules in Love'', French: ''Hercule amoureux'') is an opera in a prologue and five acts by Francesco Cavalli. Its Italian libretto is by Francesco Buti, based on Sophocles' ''The Trachiniae'' and on the ninth book of Ovid ...
'' (1981; 3 discs; with Felicity Palmer
Dame Felicity Joan Palmer, (born 6 April 1944), is an English mezzo-soprano and music professor. She sang soprano roles until 1983.
Palmer was born in Cheltenham and educated at Erith Grammar School, now named Erith School. She studied at the ...
, Patricia Miller, Yvonne Minton
Yvonne Fay Minton CBE (born 4 December 1938) is an Australian-born but mostly British-resident opera singer. She is variously billed as a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto.
A native of Sydney, she originally studied voice while on a scholarship ...
, Ulrik Cold
Ulrik Thestrup Cold (15 May 1939, Copenhagen — 13 October 2010, Copenhagen) was a Danish operatic bass. In 1963 he made his professional opera debut at the Royal Danish Theatre (RDT) as Seneca in Claudio Monteverdi's ''L'incoronazione di Poppea' ...
, English Bach Festival Chorus, English Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra, Michel Corboz
Michel Corboz (14 February 1934 – 2 September 2021) was a Swiss conductor.
Life
Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland, and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He studied vocal performance and composition at the conservatory in Fribourg ...
, conductor)
* Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...
: Complete works for harpsichord (1982; 11 discs containing 185 sonatas)University of Virginia Library
/ref>
Sources
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sgrizzi, Luciano
1910 births
1994 deaths
Musicians from Bologna
Italian harpsichordists
Italian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Italian male pianists
Italian organists
Male organists
Italian classical composers
Italian male composers
20th-century classical pianists
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century Italian composers
20th-century organists
20th-century Italian male musicians