CCMusic.com

Sammartini: Concertos / Suppa, Bianchi, Ferrigato, Quaranta, Sammartini / I Musici Ambrosiani / Suppa, Composer: Giuseppe Sammartini, Performer: Donatella Bianchi, Paolo Ferrigato, Francesco Quaranta, Conductor: Paolo Suppa, Orchestra/Ensemble: I Musici Ambrosiani, Number of Discs: 1, G. SAMMARTINI Harpsichord Concerto in A. Flute Concertos: in D; in A. Oboe Concertos: No. 9 in B?; No. 12 in C • Paolo Suppa, cond; Donatella Bianchi (hpd); Paolo Ferrigato (fl); Franceso Quaranta (ob); The elder Sammartini, Giuseppe (1695-1750), is the featured composer on this disc. His younger brother, Giovanni Battista (1700-75), today tends to get most of the credit for the influential role he played in the development of the early Classical symphony. But Milan-born Giuseppe also made important contributions to the fledgling form. His main claim to fame during his lifetime, however, was less as a composer than as a virtuoso oboist. Only in hindsight has he been recognized for the prolific composer he was. It's believed he wrote some 450 works, including three operas, 68 symphonies, a dozen concertos, and a number of chamber works, though many have been lost and others misattributed to his brother. Like many another Italian composer and musician of his day, Sammartini followed the money trail to London in 1728, remaining there for the last 22 years of his life. There he played in the opera orchestras of Handel and Bononcini and rubbed elbows with J. C. Bach and no doubt some of his other native Italians, such as Geminiani, who had also established themselves in England.