Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) was one of the most famous and successful Italian composers of the late 18th century. Renowned for his operas, of which one, Il matrimonio segreto (The Secret Marriage), was rivalled in popularity only by Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), and is still in the repertoire today.

Cimarosa was a fine composer, with a fluent melodic gift, and this is apparent in other areas of his output. He composed some 88 keyboard sonatas during the years he spent at the court of Catherine the Great in St Petersburg (1787-91), and these were probably intended as study pieces for wealthy female students at court. These short, ‘Scarlatti-proportioned’ sonatas reveal the melodic vein and rhythmic vitality that made Cimarosa’s operas so popular.

This music is not in any way influenced by Haydn’s or Clementi’s sonatas of the period. Cimarosa chose a simpler Neopolitan style of writing. This makes them ideally suited to the guitar, as these transcription by Claudio Giuliani reveal.

Contents:
1. Sonata C2: Andantino
2. Sonata C3: Minuè
3. Sonata C4: Allegretto
4. Sonata C5: Allegretto
5. Sonata C9
6. Sonata C14
7. Sonata C15
8. Sonata C16: Andante
9. Sonata C17: Andante
10. Sonata C18: Allegro
11. Sonata C19
12. Sonata C20: Andante
13. Sonata C21: Allegro
14. Sonata C22: Andante
15. Sonata C23
16. Sonata C24
17. Sonata C25: Andante
18. Sonata C33: Andantino
19. Sonata C34: Allegro
20. Sonata C35: Allegro
21. Sonata C36: Allegro
22. Sonata C37: Andantino
23. Sonata C47: Allegro
24. Sonata C49: Larghetto
25. Sonata C50: Allegro
26. Sonata C53: Allegro
27. Sonata C55: Largo
28. Sonata C56: Allegro
29. Sonata C58: Andantino grazioso
30. Sonata C61: Largo