Muzio Clementi, Piano Concerto

Clementi, pianist, and piano-maker

The composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, proofreader, and piano maker Muzio Clementi was born in Rome but spent most of his life in England. He was taken there at the age of fourteen by a wealthy British Member of Parliament, Sir Peter Beckford, after convincing the family that the boy exuded talent and that he could lead his genius to levels of excellence under his tutelage. For many years, Muzio devoted eight or more hours a day to the harpsichord when he did not have to please Sir Peter at the soirees that the eccentric parliamentarian organized regularly at the family estate in Wiltshire; the hours of study lost at each event were made up the next day by the young Clementi applying himself to the harpsichord for twelve or fourteen hours.

Clementi & Company
Thus, the young musician who made his debut in London in 1773, at twenty-one, was an exceptionally skilled harpsichordist who soon exchanged the harpsichord for the pianoforte. This instrument captivated him to such a degree that in the middle of his life, he abandoned recitals to become a partner in a piano factory that ended up bearing his name, Clementi & Company. This successful venture transformed his life forever. If he ever left London for the continent, it was to show his virtuosity on the pianoforte and, incidentally, the virtues of the instrument he made. Muzio Clementi died rich in 1832 after a thirty-year career as a pianist and pedagogue and a twenty-five-year career as a music entrepreneur.

Muzio Clementi (1752 - 1832)

Mozarts' opinion
But this remarkable pianist of the late 18th century was not everyone's cup of tea. Mozart liked him even less. We know of the competition between the two at the court of Joseph II, which the emperor saw fit to declare a "draw" in January 1781. A gentleman's challenge. However, in a letter to his sister Nannerl the following year, Mozart did not hesitate to describe Clementi as a "charlatan, like all Italians." The question arises: why so much bitterness?

Thrilling the audience

Till before Beethoven came along, Clementi far surpassed all his contemporary colleagues, including Mozart, at least in front of audiences, in piano technique. Mozart received the respect of all professionals. Mozart was the noble and serious musician. Clementi would agitate and thrill his audience as Wolfgang never could. Along with this, students and professionals of the time studied his sonatas and sonatinas with the utmost dedication and respect. Also, his only piano concerto, of an unconventional genesis one.

Piano Concerto in C major
It was composed sometime before 1793 (Mozart had died two years earlier), but the modern orchestration belongs to another composer, Johann Baptist Schenk, who gave it instrumental form around 1796.
Two years earlier, Clementi had revised the concerto and, not satisfied with the original orchestration, condensed the piece to reduce it to a simple sonata, the Sonata in C major, Opus 33-3, probably making it easier to demand. Then. Schenk stepped in and reorchestrated it to his liking, with Clementi's permission.
Clementi probably wrote other concertos that he later transformed into sonatas, but this is the only one that has survived, thanks – in part, of course – to Schenk.

Movements:
00:00  Allegro con spirit
09:35  Adagio cantabile con grande espressione
16:49  Presto

The performance is by Italian pianist and musicologist Pietro Spada, accompanied by The Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by the late Italian conductor Francesco d'Avalos.