CORRI, Sophia Giustina (1775-1847) - Sonata (III) for the harp (1797)

Sophia Giustina Corri (1775-1847) - Sonata (III, c) for the harp, Op.2 (1797)
Performers: Masumi Nagasawa (harp)

Painting: Felix Maria Diogg (1762-1834) - Magdalena Esslinger-Escher im Hard, mit ihren Töchtern Regina, Magdalena, Esther und Anna Maria, 1793.

Further info: Duos pour harpe et pianoforte

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Sophia (Giustina) Corri [later Dussek; later Moralt]
(Edinburgh, 1 May 1775 - London, 1847)

English singer and composer of Italian descent, wife of Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812). She was taught the piano by her father, the composer, music publisher and teacher Domenico Corri (1746-1825), and performed in public at an early age. In 1788 the family moved from Edinburgh to London, where she studied singing with Luigi Marchesi, Giuseppe Viganoni and Giambattista Cimador. She made a successful début as a singer at the Salomon concerts in 1791, with Haydn directing from the harpsichord, and thereafter sang regularly in the series, taking part in the first performance of Haydn’s The Storm (24 February 1792). She also played a significant part in the introduction of Mozart’s music to London; she was a soloist in the London première of the Requiem, given at John Ashley’s Lenten Oratorios, Covent Garden, on 20 February 1801. In 1792 she married Dussek, with whom she performed, singing and playing the piano and harp. Their daughter, Olivia Dussek (c.1789-c.1841), was also a pianist, harpist and composer. After Jan Ladislav’s death in 1812 Sophia married the viola player John Alvis Moralt; they lived in Paddington, where she established a music school. She published sonatas, rondos, variations and numerous arrangements for the piano or harp. The popular C minor harp sonata from op.2 appears to have been incorrectly attributed to Jan Ladislav. The 1797 Pleyel edition lists only the composer’s surname, probably deliberately, as the name of Sophia’s famous husband would be expected to generate more sales. However, the title-page of the British edition published at some time between 1796 and 1801 by the family firm, Corri, Dussek & Co., clearly states ‘By Madame Dussek’ and this is unlikely to be incorrect. Sophia’s great-niece, Ghita Auber Corri (c.1869-1937), composed songs and sang in the Carl Rosa Opera Company; she married the playwright Richard Neville Lynn in 1899.