Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Opp. 10, 78 & 79 Maurizio Zaccaria

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 "Little Pathétique":
• 1 Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 "Little Pathétique": I. Allegro molto e con brio 04:15
• 2 Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 "Little Pathétique": II. Adagio molto 07:04
• 3 Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 1 "Little Pathétique": III. Finale. Prestissimo 03:26
• Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2:
• 4 Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2: I. Allegro 04:02
• 5 Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2: II. Menuetto. Allegro 03:35
• 6 Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2: III. Presto 02:29
• Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10 No. 3:
• 7 Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10 No. 3: I. Presto 05:06
• 8 Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10 No. 3: II. Largo e mesto 09:28
• 9 Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10 No. 3: III. Menuetto. Allegro 02:50
• 10 Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10 No. 3: IV. Rondo. Allegro 03:56
• Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-Sharp major, Op. 78 "À Thérèse":
• 11 Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-Sharp major, Op. 78 "À Thérèse": I. Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo 05:00
• 12 Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-Sharp major, Op. 78 "À Thérèse": II. Allegro vivace 03:05
• Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo":
• 13 Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo": I. Presto alla tedesca 03:16
• 14 Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo": II. Andante 02:15
• 15 Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo": III. Vivace 02:03
• Total Runtime 01:01:50

Info for Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Opp. 10, 78 & 79

The two albums OC19040B and OC19041B introduce Beethoven’s more intimate works that appropriately trace his evolution: from the four Sonatinas, WoO 50 and 51, Anh. 5/1, 5/2, composed in the late 1780s or early 1790s and published posthumously; exploring the four sonatas of the first-period (the Three Sonatas, Op. 10 and the Sonata, Op. 22); two sonatas from the middle period (Opp. 78, in two relatively brief movements; and Op. 79, the shortest of the three-movement sonatas); and ending with the late-period’s Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119, revised and published as a set in 1823 but gathering works that span from the 1790s to the early 1820s.

While Beethoven’s very early sonatinas may show a rather conservative attitude toward composition and pianistic language (perhaps the reason why they remained unpublished), it is in the Sonatas, Op. 10 that we sense Beethoven’s urge as a young composer to push the boundaries of already old-fashioned archetypes – in the use of the rondo-sonata form, for example, but also in the quintessentially orchestral writing of the third sonata. And it is in the second half of the Bagatelles, Op. 119, written in 1821-22, that we most perceive Beethoven’s iconoclastic force had he not prematurely left the world only several years later.

The present recording was made by Alessandro Simonetto with a pair of 2-stereo Stennheiser microphones.

Maurizio Zaccaria, piano

Maurizio Zaccaria
After a diploma in piano at "Niccola Piccinni" Conservatory of Music in Bari under the guidance of Gregorio Goffredo and a master at "Nino Rota" Conservatory of Music in Monopoli under the guidance of Benedetto Lupo, he attended the masterclasses of Marisa Somma, Cristian Zaccarias, Joaquin Achucarro, Francois J. Thiollier, Konstantin Bogino et Aldo Ciccolini.

He went on to win several national and international piano competitions: Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, Liszt International Piano Competition (the famous Argentine pianist Martha Argerich was in the jury), Thalberg International Piano Competition, International Music Competition in Ibla, "San Nicolaus" International Piano Competition International, Piano Festival in Osnabruch (Germania), Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas (USA). In 2008 he was awarded the "Umanitaria" Society price in Milan (president Maestro Abbado); during the same year he was also awarded the Arts Price of the Italian Cultural Ministry, after which he played at the Parco della Musica in Rome. He plays in Italy and abroad in some important halls: Auditorium della Radio Televisione Svizzera (Lugano); Salle Cortot (Paris); Institut Italien de Culture (Paris); Sala Gaber (Milan); Parco della Musica (Rome); Sala Scarlatti (Naples); Teatro delle Muse (Ancona); Teatro Piccinni et Kursaal Santa Lucia (Bari); Teatro Bibiena (Mantova); Villa Ruffolo (Ravello); Teatro Wan Vesterhout (Mola di Bari); Auditorium V. Falco (playing two pianos with Aldo Ciccolini); Teatro Curci (Bari). Maurizio Zaccaria plays for important associations: Fondazione Petruzzelli (Bari); URTIcanti contemporary music festival; Ravello festival; PianoFestival (Grosseto); A.R.A.M. (Rome); Gaeta Festival; Accademia dei Cameristi (Bari). In March 2007 he debuted in the USA, during a series of concerts playing Bartok's compositions, among which his Sonata for two pianos and percussions. His last concerts with Bari Concert Society orchestra and Taranto Magna Grecia orchestra, respectively devoted to Shostakovic's Concerto Op. 35 and Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto Op. 30 have fascinated audience and critics. He played as a soloist with Petruzzelli Symphonic Orchestra, (Bari), "Nino Rota" orchestra (Monopoli, Bari) conducted by Filippo Maria Bressan, with Cosenza Symphonic orchestra, Bacau symphonic orchestra, Matera Duni Orchestra (there he played Gershwin's best symphonic pieces for piano, Concerto in Fa and Rapsody in Blue) and with Bari Metropolitan Symphonic orchestra. He was invited by the Italian embassy in Pogdorica where he played music by Fauré, Debussy and Schostakovic. He is also a composer, and he debuted some compositions by Goeffroy Drouin, Luca Lombardi, Lera Auerbach, Luca Mosca, Andrea Marena and Fabio Vacchi. He also pays chamber music and he collaborates with flutist Leonardo Grittani.

This album contains no booklet.