Diego Zucchinetti
Three Sonatas for the harpsichord or pianoforte with violin or flute
edited by Ivano Bettin and Jacopo Columbro

(Instrumental Music, 16)

Diego Zucchinetti's Three Sonatas for the harpsichord or pianoforte with violin or flute belong to a genre—keyboard sonata with an accompanying melodic instrument—that was quite common by the late 18th century. The composer was an alumnus of the Pietà de' Turchini Conservatory, Naples; a local publisher, Marescalchi, printed those sonatas by 1794. In Paris, Nadermann reissued them few years later. They are all cast in three movements and show such a balanced distribution of musical material between the instruments, they can be virtually regarded as duets. Operatic passages and cantabile melodies link these pleasing specimens of late-century Italian instrumental music to their Neapolitan roots.

Ivano Bettin (Monza 1978) graduated in Literature from the University of Milan in 2004 and went on to complete a Ph.D. in History and Criticism of Artistic and Environmental Heritage at the same university in 2011. A prolific researcher, he chiefly focuses on Italian music of the 16th and 18th-century. He has delivered papers at many international conferences and published several musicological studies and critical editions with various publishers (LIM, Led, Carrara, Centro Studi Antoniani), as well as articles on local history on specialist magazines (including Archivi di Lecco e della Provincia, Aurea Parma, and Canturium). Ivano Bettin is a member of the editorial board for the book series Le musiche della Cappella del Duomo di Milano, published by Edizioni Carrara. Since 2011 he is also the editor of the classical editorial dept. of Hal Leonard MGB-Ricordi.

Jacopo Columbro, born in Cremona, he began his musical studies under his father’s guidance. He then graduated in Violin with F. Luciani at the “G.Verdi” Conservatory in Milan, and in Composition with full marks with S. Gorli and G. Manca. After playing in Italy (Milan, Cremona, Viadana) and abroad (Valencia - Palau de les Artes, Madrid - Auditorio Nacional), his interest for early music was intensified. He dedicated himself to practice the baroque violin, first with M. Cadossi, then at the Universität der Künste in Berlin with I. Huntgeburth. The Italian music of the 17th and 18th century has always been part of his musical education. Discovering and reviving forgotten music from the past is for him a vital part of his research activity. He transcribed a lot of unknown 17th and 18th century musical manuscripts, and participated in the digital transcription of Lodovico Grossi da Viadana’s Opera Omnia. In addition to that he has played in the first modern performances and recordings of many forgotten works: among them the oratorio La Susanna by G. Gazzaniga (Festival Lodoviciano, MN) and the Officium Defunctorum by L. da Viadana for the label Tactus. He teaches violin and music in public schools in Berlin.7

[Violin or flute part - free download]