# Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli



## Taggart

We're on an Andrew Manze kick at the minute and Ingenue's violin teacher recommended his CD of this composer. He didn't have a guestbook so I thought I'd start one.

Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (born Montepulciano, Tuscany, ca. 1630 - died Madrid, ca. 1669/1670) was an Italian composer and violinist.

Little is known of Pandolfi Mealli. The annals of the court of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria in Innsbruck record that he was employed at the court in 1660. Baroque violinist Enrico Gatti reports that Pandolfi Mealli murdered castrato Giovanni Marquett in Messina during an argument in the Duomo, after which he fled first to France and then Spain, where he was employed in the Royal Chapel. Of his works, only two collections of sonatas for violin and harpsichord (Op. 3 and Op. 4) have survived, published in 1660; they are at the Civic Museum of Bologna.

(This is borrowed from the BBC which then suggests Wiki. Wiki's main source is ... a BBC show on early music!)


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## Taggart

Some examples of his work:











There's quite a bit of the Manze up on YouTube.


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## Heliogabo

Pandolfi´s music is amazing. I`m loving this record:










Any other recommendations?


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## Five and Dime

Where did the "Mealli" come from? Or, why is he often just referred to as Pandolfi?

Also, checking wikipedia, it looks like those violin sonatas are essentially his only surviving output!

Another interesting wikibit:

_Baroque expert Enrico Gatti reports that Pandolfi Mealli murdered castrato Giovanni Marquett in Messina during an argument in the Duomo, after which he fled first to France and then Spain, where he was employed in the Royal Chapel_


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## Heliogabo

Five and Dime said:


> Where did the "Mealli" come from? Or, why is he often just referred to as Pandolfi?
> 
> Also, checking wikipedia, it looks like those violin sonatas are essentially his only surviving output!
> 
> Another interesting wikibit:
> 
> _Baroque expert Enrico Gatti reports that Pandolfi Mealli murdered castrato Giovanni Marquett in Messina during an argument in the Duomo, after which he fled first to France and then Spain, where he was employed in the Royal Chapel_


Uh, this Pandolfi was a crazy guy. I knew it!


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## Heliogabo

Everything can serve for advertising purposes:



> 'Priest-composer stabs alto castrato during Mass!' Such fervent Catholicism is hardly imaginable nowadays. The present recording will remedy that: the Austian violinist Gunar Letzbor revives the strange work of murderer-composer Antonio Pandolfi Mealli with a full-blooded performance that succeeds in captivating us from beginning to end.'
> Eberhard Zummach, Concerto. Das Magazin für Alte Musik no. 214


Read more:
https://www.outhere-music.com/en/albums/sonate-a-violino-solo-opera-terza-a-369


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## tortkis

I have the Arcana album of Op. 3 by Gunar Letzbor & Ars Antiqua Austria (bass-viol, lute, guitar, archlute, harpsichord, organ). A beautiful, rich recording. I liked Letzbor's bright, clear violin tones very much.

I have not heard Manze/Egarr. It seems the accompanying instrumentation is different, so this may be of interest.

https://www.outhere-music.com/en/albums/sonate-a-violino-solo-opera-terza-a-369


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## Heliogabo

Yes, thanks tortkis, this is a different continuo setting that looks interesting too. Manze recorded the sonatas before this HM release adding an archlute as well, but I only know his second recording, that is ravishing.


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