Description
The course is open to all interested and does not include an audio or video pre-selection. You may choose to play both instruments Fortepiano and Clavichord, but also only one of the two.
The nature of the course, which aims to analyse the language of the 18th century and not necessarily specific pieces, will leave a wide margin of freedom on the choice of repertoire, and also to attend the lessons of other fellow students. Each participant is entitled to a single lesson per day.
Group meetings are planned during the course to discuss some methods for fortepiano and clavichord by both German and Italian authors of the late 18th century that are very instructive on central issues such as: body and hand position, fingering, embellishments, expression marks, articulation, touch, dynamics, and use of the pedal.
Programme
Fortepiano course
Course participants may perform freely chosen works from the second half of the 18th century. Particular attention will be paid to the language and rhetoric of composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, especially with regard to the influence of the musical style of the "modern theatrical composers", but also of the "Sturm und Drang". The study of sonatas by D. Scarlatti on the fortepiano is suggested. The course will use a fortepiano copy by A. Walter from the late 18th century.
Clavicordo course
Many testimonies of the time report a great predilection for the clavichord, which, due to its special expressive capacities, 'induces one to conceive and express the most refined musical thoughts'.
Compositions written under the influence of the 'Empfindsamkeit' found in the clavichord the most suitable instrument for their performance. Songs by composers such as: C. P. E. Bach, W. F. Bach, F. Benda, G. F. Muthel, J. W. Hassler, F. W. Rust. The course will use a free five-octave clavichord, built by Joris Potvlieghe on the model of the Saxon Clavichord from the second half of the 18th century.
Bio
In 1976 Carmen Leoni began playing the harpsichord at the age of 11, thanks to Annaberta Conti, then a teacher at the Verona Conservatory. She continued her studies of organ and organ composition with U. Forni, after which she devoted herself entirely to the harpsichord first in Spain with J.L Gonzales Uriol then in Holland with J. Ogg and T. Koopman where she obtained her diploma as harpsichordist with a soloist address. Continuous research into the performance practice of the historical keyboards led her to approach other keyboards as well, then to become passionate about the clavichord and fortepiano. instruments that became fundamental in her artistic and professional career.
She has performed all over Europe at prestigious international early music festivals with various orchestras such as La Petite Bande, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, La Risoluzione Amsterdam, Zefiro, I Barocchisti, Venice Baroque Orquestra, Ensemble Il Divino Sospiro, Concerto Armonico Budapest, Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
She has played in duos with soloists such as Roberta Invernizzi, Max van Egmond, Jacques Ogg, while as a soloist she recently took part in a festival dedicated exclusively to historical keyboards at the Early Music Festival in Boston, and last Christmas 2022 she was invited to conduct the 'Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife' at the Santa Cruz Auditorium in Tenerife.
She has recorded for several record companies including Emergo, Naxos, Stradivarius, Hungaroton, and Tactus.
As a teacher, she held the chair of harpsichord and basso continuo in Salamanca, Spain. She has held clavichord courses as part of 'Erasmus' projects in Helsinky (Finland), Poznan (Poland), at the Conservatory of Verona and in Graz (Austria). He currently holds the Chair of Harpsichord and Historical Keyboards at the Conservatorio 'G. F. Ghedini' in Cuneo.