Diogenio Bigaglia (1678–1745) left only one chamber cantata scored for bass voice and continuo, but this work, Sudaste, alfin sudaste, is a masterpiece. Its poetic text takes the form of an imagined monologue by the crazed arsonist Herostratus, who has gone down in history as the person who burned down the famous Temple of Diana at Ephesus merely to gratify his eagerness for posthumous celebrity. Bigaglia captures brilliantly the demented exultation of Herostratus as he first lays his plan and then executes it. At the same time, this cantata reveals the great expressive power attainable by the bass voice when operating in the medium of the chamber cantata. Read more
Composer:Diogenio Bigaglia Editor:Michael Talbot Publication date: November 2020 Instruments: Bass voice and basso continuo Format: Full score and parts Duration:c.5' Pages: xii/10 + 2 x 4 ISMN: 979 0 708185 12 3 ISBN: '978 1 910359 94 5 Code:HH501.FSP Price: £13.00 More information
Cantabile is one of a number of pieces that Adriano Cirillo wrote for his great friend the flautist Gabriele Betti, who died on 4 September 2020, one week before they were due to give the first performance. Read more
Composer:Adriano Cirillo Publication date: November 2020 Instrument: Flute and Piano Format: Full score and part Duration:c.3' Series:Contemporary Pages: iv/4 + 4 ISMN: 979 0 708185 29 1 Code:HH519.SOL Price: £10.95 More information
Although Haydn’s Symphony No. 48 was long thought to have been written for, and performed in honour of, the state visit of Empress Maria Theresia to Eszterháza in 1773, eminent Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon concluded that the piece should be redated to 1770. The accepted soubriquet may be mistaken, but, as Landon comments, the message is correct, for the work’s magnificence makes it a ‘Symphony for Queens and Emperors’. This excellent arrangement, made by German tenor, conductor and composer Carl David Stegmann (1751–1826) and newly edited by Sarah Jenner, makes a welcome addition to the piano transcription repertoire.
PIANIST STILL IN LOCKDOWN OR WITHOUT CONCERTS? Why not take the opportunity to try out Hummel’s authoritative solo arrangements of Mozart’s piano concertos?
Watch Gigliola di Grazia play the Larghetto from the soon to be released Concerto in D major, K537. More information
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