Grazioli: 12 Harpsichord Sonatas Opp. 1 & 2 Chiara Minali

• Giovanni Battista Grazioli (1746 - 1820): Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1:
• 1 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 02:51
• 2 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino 03:23
• 3 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 02:19
• 4 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 03:53
• 5 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1: II. Adagio 03:08
• 6 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1: III. Allegretto 02:55
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1:
• 7 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro cantabile 04:02
• 8 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: II. Adagio 03:36
• 9 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in B-Flat Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 02:49
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 1:
• 10 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro moderato 04:03
• 11 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 1: II. Andantino 03:45
• 12 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 03:40
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in A Major, Op. 1:
• 13 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in A Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 04:15
• 14 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in A Major, Op. 1: II. Adagio 03:24
• 15 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in A Major, Op. 1: III. Presto 03:42
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 1:
• 16 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 1: I. Allegro 03:44
• 17 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 1: II. Adagio 05:22
• 18 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in D Major, Op. 1: III. Allegro 03:35
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 2:
• 19 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 2: I. Cantabile 05:18
• 20 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 2: II. Adagio 04:38
• 21 Harpsichord Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 2: III. Presto 02:30
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 2:
• 22 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 2: I. Allegro 03:55
• 23 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 2: II. Larghetto 04:56
• 24 Harpsichord Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 2: III. Allegro 02:29
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2:
• 25 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2: I. Allegro 03:53
• 26 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2: II. Andantino 03:15
• 27 Harpsichord Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2: III. Allegro 03:31
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in A Major, Op. 2:
• 28 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in A Major, Op. 2: I. Allegro 04:15
• 29 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in A Major, Op. 2: II. Larghetto 04:17
• 30 Harpsichord Sonata No. 4 in A Major, Op. 2: III. Allegro 03:36
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 2:
• 31 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 2: I. Moderato 05:30
• 32 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 2: II. Adagio 06:14
• 33 Harpsichord Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 2: III. Tempo di minuetto 03:02
• Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2:
• 34 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2: I. Allegro 04:08
• 35 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2: II. Adagio 05:28
• 36 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2: III. Presto 02:35
• 37 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2: IV. Tema e variazioni in B-Flat Major 06:55
• 38 Harpsichord Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 2: V. Pastorale in C Major 10:54
• Total Runtime 02:35:45

Info for Grazioli: 12 Harpsichord Sonatas Opp. 1 & 2

First recordings of sonatas for organ and harpsichord by a forgotten Italian composer on the cusp of the Baroque and Classical eras.

These sonatas were published in 1780 in Venice, where Giovanni Battista Grazioli (1746-1828) had become an organist at St Mark’s Basilica two years earlier; and in 1785 he would be appointed principal organist, on the death of Baldassare Galuppi. He was known in his own time as an especially accomplished performer whose compositions concentrated on work for the church, though these collections of keyboard works were evidently designed for domestic consumption. Nearly all the 12 sonatas are structured in a conventional quick-slow-quick three-movement form, most of them in major keys, and notable for their elegant melodies and wealth of invention. The recording’s coda represents Grazioli’s work at St Mark’s with a Pastorale for organ composed for use over the Christmas season. This is probably the first-ever complete recording of Grazioli’s harpsichord sonatas (not to be confused with the organ sonatas by his son Alessandro). It marks the third appearance on Brilliant by the Veronese early-music specialist Chiara Minali. Her previous albums of Marcello (95277) and Ignaz Spergher (95834) have won glowing reviews for the technical finesse and expressive refinement of her playing.

Chiara Minali, harpsichord

Chiara Minali
studied at the Dall’Abaco Conservatoire in Verona. In 2002 she graduated brilliantly in organ and organ composition under Alessio Corti. That same year she won first prize in the competition organized by the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona for newly graduated musicians. She then attended courses in harpsichord, obtaining a first-class diploma in 2005 under Sergio Vartolo. This was followed in 2010 by a Masters Degree in harpsichord at the Bonporti Conservatoire under A. Bugatti. She has also attended master classes in organ under Michael Radulescu and in harpsichord under Murray, Bellotti, Baumont, Astronio, Bonizzoni and Baroni. She played continuo in the early music course held at Brunico in 2005 at Villa Lagarina (Trento), and of the course of Baroque singing by Lia Serafini in the province of Verona in 2013-2014. With the Corelli Ensemble performed in Dortmund in 2006, in Berlin in 2009. In September 2009 she became third in the Terzo harpsichord competition, and the following year collaborated with the Compagnia Virtuosa vocal ensemble on a production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Pescara. She has also worked with the Monteverdi Conservatoire in Bolzano and the Dall’Abaco in Verona as harpsichord accompanist. From 1998 to 2007 she was titular organist at the church of San Giorgio in Braida (Verona), and from 2007 to 2013 at the Church of the Redentore in Verona. From 2005 to 2017 she taught organ at the Istituto Diocesano di Musica Sacra in the same city. Her career involves her in many concerts as a soloist and continuo player, collaborating with various instrumental and choral ensembles.

Booklet for Grazioli: 12 Harpsichord Sonatas Opp. 1 & 2