Clementi: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4

This recording charts the breadth of Muzio Clementi’s compositional life from his first fortepiano sonatas to his last. The works reveal the stylistic developments in keyboard music during this period as well as the evolution of the instrument itself, reflected in the historically important fortepianos selected for recording. After the limpid textures and melodic charm of the two early sonatas, the Sonata in G Minor, Op. 50 No. 3 is the apex of Clementi’s entire keyboard output, a dark and dramatic tableau based on the passion of Dido and Aeneas, shot through with operatically charged emotional conflict and vivid colours.