Emanuele Barbella (1718-1777)
- Solo (VI) from 'Six Solos for a Violin and Bass or two Violins' (c.1765)
Performers: Daniel Pintеño (violin); Concеrto 1700
Painting: Pietro Fabris (c.1740-1792) - Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth (1744-1781) at home in Naples
Further info: Italy in Spain: Violin Sonatas
---
Italian composer and violinist. After training from his father,
Francesco Barbella, maestro di violino and composer at the Conservatorio
di Santa Maria di Loreto, he studied with Angelo Zaga and Pasqualino
Bini before completing his training in theory and composition with
Michele Cabbalone and Leonardo Leo. In 1744 he was taken to England by
Leo, where he had his debut as a violinist. After his return to Naples,
he was appointed to positions at the Teatro Nuovo in 1753 and the Teatro
San Carlo in 1761 in a post he held the rest of his life. Although
there is no evidence that Barbella ranked among the finest Italian
violinists, he was respected as a performer and admired as a teacher and
composer. Charles Burney, who became his friend and relied on his
knowledge, confessed to some disappointment in his playing, complaining
of lack of variety, ‘drowsiness of tone’, and ‘want of animation’. Yet
he found much to praise also, especially when hearing Barbella in a
small room, and spoke of his ‘taste and expression’ and of his
‘marvellously sweet tone’. His music, mostly in the style of Giuseppe
Tartini, includes two concertos, 33 trio sonatas, 29 violin sonatas, 33
duets for two violins, two operas, and several smaller works. He wrote a
number of pieces for the mandolin, including a concerto, sonatas and
duets. Many of his pieces were also published in England and France, so
that they were well known in Europe.
Cap comentari:
Publica un comentari a l'entrada