Giovanni Simone Mayr - Piano Concerto in C-major /

Giovanni Simone Mayr

(14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845) was a German composer.

 Piano Concerto in C-major

Picture: James Alexander Walker - Napoleon Watching the Battle of Friedland, 1807

Mov.I: Allegro moderato 00:00
Mov.II: Andantino con variazioni 10:36
Mov.III: Allegro moderato 15:40

Pianist: Piero Barbareschi
Orchestra: Orchestra da Camera dell'Etruria
Conductor: Paolo Ponziano Ciardi

 

  

He was born in Mendorf near Altmannstein, Landkreis Eichstätt, Bavaria, and studied theology at the University of Ingolstadt, continuing his studies in Italy from 1787. He was closely associated with the Illuminati of Adam Weishaupt while a student in Ingolstadt, and the ideals of the French Enlightenment were a strong influence on his philosophy as a musician as corroborated by his famed Zibaldone or "Notebooks" compiled toward the end of his career.

Shortly thereafter, he took music lessons with Carlo Lenzi, and later with Ferdinando Bertoni.

He moved to Bergamo in 1802 and was appointed maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Bergamo, succeeding his old teacher Lenzi. He held the post until his death, and became a central figure in the city's musical life, organizing concerts and introducing Ludwig van Beethoven's music there. He was music teacher to Gaetano Donizetti. By the end of his life, he was blind.

He died in Bergamo and is buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore there, just in front of the

tomb of his famous pupil.

Mayr's works, among which there are almost seventy operas, are rarely performed today.