Luciano Sgrizzi

Luciano Sgrizzi (30 October 1910 – 11 September 1994) was an Italian harpsichordist, organist, pianist and composer.

Life and career Luciano Sgrizzi was born in Bologna on October 30, 1910. His father, Domenico Sgrizzi, was a postal worker who died when Luciano was six years old. At the age of 13 he began studies as a pianist at the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. and by Alessandro Scarlatti.

He made a number of recordings, of which seven were awarded the Grand Prix du Disque. These included the complete concertos of Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach for solo harpsichord, and many of the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti.

In 1980 he was named Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and in 1985 was named Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French Cultural Minister Jack Lang. He died in Monte Carlo, (Monaco), where he had lived for the last few years of his life.

Compositions Dancing Song: Valzer (1933) Concerto for piano and orchestra (1935) String trio (1935) Concerto per orchestra (1936) Impressioni (1936) Introduction and Scherzo, flute and piano (1937) Paesaggi (1951) Suite Napoletana (1951) Englische Suite nach Werken der Virginaliste (English Suite; 1952, orchestra) Suite Belge (1952; orchestra; d'après des œuvres de clavecinistes belges du 18ème siècle) Gioachino Rossini: Péchés de vieillesse (1967; 9 selections, played on piano) Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle (1969; with Hanneke van Bork, Margaret Lensky, Serge Maurer, James Loomis, Chorus of the Società Cameristica di Lugano; Luciano Sgrizzi, Georges Bernand, pianos; Bruno Canino, harmonium; Edwin Loehrer, conductor) Music for two harpsichords (1970; with Huguette Dreyfus; works by Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and Johann Ludwig Krebs) Muzio Clementi: 3 Sonatas and 10 Waltzes (1970) Joseph Haydn: Sonatas for piano; Fantasia in C major (1970; 4 sonatas, played on hammerklavier) The Iberian followers of Domenico Scarlatti (1970; harpsichord; works by Padre Antonio Soler, Carlos Seixas, and Manuel Biasco de Nebra) Clementi: Clementi interprété au piano par Luciano Sgrizzi (1973) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Concertos in F major and E flat major, for piano, harpsichord, and orchestra (1973; with Robert Veyron-Lacroix, piano; Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard, conductor) C. P. E. Bach: Six sonatas with varied repeats (1980) Francesco Cavalli: Ercole amante (1981; 3 discs; with Felicity Palmer, Patricia Miller, Yvonne Minton, Ulrik Cold, English Bach Festival Chorus, English Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra, Michel Corboz, conductor) Domenico Scarlatti: Complete works for harpsichord (1982; 11 discs containing 185 sonatas)