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Donald Macleod looks at a significant collaboration that extended Martines’s fame abroad.

Marianna Martines lived and worked in Vienna alongside some of classical music’s greatest names. She was tutored by Haydn, played piano duets with Mozart, corresponded with Padre Martini and Farinelli, and was frequently invited to perform for the Imperial Court. For nearly 40 years, she was mentored by Metastasio, Europe’s most celebrated opera librettist. Martines became a significant personality in Viennese cultural circles with her works regularly performed in the city, and commissions and honours coming her way from across Europe. All this week, Donald Macleod is joined by Dr Jeremy Llewellyn to lift the veil on this long neglected yet prolific and highly celebrated composer and discover the unique perspective her story provides on cultural life in Vienna during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Saverio Matteo, a poet based in Naples, wrote to his colleague, Metastasio asking for assistance. Could he help persuade the eminent composer, Johann Hasse to set one of his Italian psalms to music? In reply, Metastasio suggested his friend forget about Hasse, and collaborate instead with his protégé, Marianna Martines. This led to Martines composing a number of works which became popular in Naples and Vienna. Metastasio also wrote to Padre Martini suggesting he propose her for membership of the

Sonata in G for harpsichord (Allegro brillante)
Nicoleta Paraschivescu, harpsichord

Come le limpide onde (excerpt)
Aleksandra Zamojska, soprano
Eva Schossleitner, mezzo-soprano
Virgil Hartinger, tenor
Heidelore Schauer, salterio
Salzburger Hofmusik
Wolfgang Brunner, director

Keyboard Concerto in A
Melani Mestre, piano & conductor
Iberian Philharmonic Orchestra

Dixit Dominus (excerpt)
Marianna Herzig, soprano
Nele Gramss, mezzo-soprano
Christian Havel, tenor
Roland Faust, bass
Salzburger Hofmusik
Wolfgang Brunner, director

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales