Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello

Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello spent much of his career in Germany, where he held a variety of posts. He was among the first composers to practice the new symphony genre in that country. Brescianello was quite prolific, but his life has not been well documented. His name sometimes appears as Bressonelli. He was born in Bologna around 1690, may have spent time in Venice and heard Vivaldi's music (a major influence in any case), and apparently moved to Germany to work as a valet for the Electress of Bavaria. She seems to have wangled for him a letter of appointment written by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, hiring him as a violinist in the Munich court orchestra in 1715. The following year, he moved to Stuttgart to take a post at the court of Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg, after the death of court composer Johann Christoph Pez; Brescianello took up Pez's duties dispensing chamber works as master of chamber concerts. He apparently did well, for in 1717, he was elevated to Hofkapellmeister (or court music director). One of his earliest surviving works is the pastoral opera Tisbe (or La Tisbe), which he composed in 1718. He tried unsuccessfully to have it staged in Stuttgart; it was not recorded until 2014 when a performance was released by the historical performance group Il Gusto Barocco. Brescianello's 15 trio sonatas also may date from this period. Around 1720, Brescianello came into conflict with the composer Reinhard Keiser, who attempted to have Brescianello fired and have himself named as replacement. Brescianello fended off these attempts successfully and was even named Oberkapellmeister ("chief music director") in 1731. However, financial troubles at the ducal court led to the elimination of many musician positions at the court, including Brescianello's, in 1737. Brescianello made good use of his time by turning to composition, publishing the collection 12 concerti e sinphonie, Op. 1; the six symphonies it contained were among the early examples of the form in Germany. He also wrote a collection of 18 works for the gallichone ("calichon"), a type of mandora or lute. In 1744, Brescianello was reinstated and resumed his duties leading opera and instrumental music at the court. He retired in 1751 and died in Stuttgart on October 4, 1758. Brescianello was forgotten for many years, but the revival of interest in the early Classical period has led to new recordings of his works. By the mid-2020s, some 50 of them had been recorded, including all the symphonies and concertos of Op. 1; some had appeared on multiple releases. ~ James Manheim, Rovi