Giovanni Paisiello: Sonata a quattro mani per Clavircembalo o Pianoforte

Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816) was an Italian composer whose operas helped shape European musical theatre in the late eighteenth century. Born in Taranto, he trained at the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio in Naples before receiving his first operatic commissions in Bologna in 1764.

He returned to Naples in 1766, writing comic operas for the Teatro Nuovo and Teatro dei Fiorentini as well as serious works for the Teatro di San Carlo. From 1776 to 1784, he served Catherine II in St Petersburg, where he composed Il barbiere di Siviglia (1782). His music was performed widely across Europe.

After returning to Italy, Paisiello continued his career at the Neapolitan court. Among his best-known works are La serva padrona, Il re Teodoro in Venezia and Nina, o sia La pazza per amore. In 1802 he moved to Paris to direct Napoleon’s chapel, returning to Naples in 1804.

Alongside his operas, he wrote sacred music, keyboard concertos and chamber works. His instrumental music reveals the same lyrical clarity and sensitivity to musical dialogue that distinguish his writing for the stage.