Critical Edition by Fulvia Morabito – Massimiliano Sala, Bologna, Ut Orpheus Edizioni, 2022 (LOC 3).
The Concerto in A major by Pietro Antonio Locatelli (Bergamo, 1695 – Amsterdam, 1764) is a work that is not among the authenticated compositions of the Bergamasque violinist and composer.
It is not therefore included among the eight opus numbers known to date that were printed in Amsterdam under the author’s supervision; nor is it mentioned in any of the catalogues compiled by Locatelli himself. It is therefore a work attributed on the basis of documentary and stylistic considerations.
The musical text is derived from two manuscript sources that concordantly and explicitly attest its Locatellian authorship.
Structurally, the Concerto is divided into three movements as follows: Vivace – Largo – Allegro. Stylistically, Dunning judges the Concerto in A to be in line with Locatelli’s methodology, and, in support of the authenticity of the piece, he points to a «reworking of the opening bars of the central Movement of the Concerto» in comparison with the analogous ones in the Largo (bb. 1-11) of Concerto Op. iii No. 12.
The phenomenon of self-quotation, which is unequivocally present in Locatelli’s work, is less evident here, and, in addition, the attributive value of the ‘linguistic’ formulas can be reduced in significance to ones common to most contemporary Baroque music.
Also in terms of authenticity, the presence of a short Capriccio at the end of the concluding movement is significant, if not probative, in reflecting the form of the outer movements of the twelve Concertos Op. iii, L’Arte del Violino.
Following the Capriccio is a very short, written Cadenza: this is in contrast to the Solo Violin Concertos of Opus iii and the Capriccio from Violin Sonata Op. vi No. 12, where the Cadenza is prescribed but not notated, since it is left to the performer’s inventiveness.
Fulvia Morabito is currently President of the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini and President of the scientific committee of the Italian National Edition of Luigi Boccherini’s Complete Works (Ut Orpheus Edizioni). Graduated in musicology from the University of Pavia, she received a M.Mus in piano from the Conservatory Luigi Boccherini, Lucca). In 1994 she joined the editorial staff of the Stichting-Fondazione Pietro Antonio Locatelli (Amsterdam-Cremona) as editor of the Locatelli Opera Omnia. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Francesco Geminiani’s Opera Omnia (Ut Orpheus Edizioni) and General Editor of the series Monumenta Musica Europea and Studies on Italian Music History (Brepols Publishers). She is also a founder of Ad Parnassum. A Journal of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music and an editor of the series Ad Parnassum Studies (Ut Orpheus Edizioni). She published 2 monographs on P.A. Locatelli (2009 and 2018) and another on La Romanza vocale da camera in Italia (1997), critical editions, edited volumes, articles, and dictionaries entries.
Massimiliano Sala is currently Vice President of the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini and President of the Italian Institute of Applied Musicology. Graduated in musicology from the University of Pavia (Italy), he received a M.Mus in piano from the Conservatory of Cesena. He is President of the Italian National Edition of Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s Complete Works, and member of the Board of the Italian National Edition of Muzio Clementi’s Complete Works (Secretary Treasurer) and the Italian National Edition of Luigi Boccherini’s Complete Works. He is also a founder of Ad Parnassum. A Journal on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music, General Editor of the series ‘Contemporary Composers’, ‘Music, Science and Technology’ (Brepols Publishers) and Quaderni Clementiani (Ut Orpheus Edizioni), and member of the editorial committee of the series Boccherini Studies (Ut Orpheus Edizioni), His publications include books, critical editions, journal articles and book chapters on eighteenth- to twentieth-centuries music, dictionary entries for Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart 2 and Oxford Bibliographies Online (OUP).
