Giovanni Punto (1746-1803) - Concerto [E] a Cor Principal (1777)

Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám Jan Václav Stic! 🥂📯

Composer: Giovanni Punto (1746-1803)
Work: Concerto [E] a Cor Principal (1777), previously attributed to Carl Stamitz (1745-1801)
Performers: Peter Arnοld (horn); Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonie; Ernst Wеdаm (conductor)

Concerto [E] a Cor Principal (1777)
1. Allegro moderato 0:00
2. Adagio 7:34
3. Rondeau 11:47

Painting: Joseph de Landerset (1753-1824) - A hunting party (1795)
HD image: https://flic.kr/p/2p5p1Yc
Drawing: James Bretherton (fl. 1750-1799) - Concerto Spirituale (the horn player probably represents Giovanni Punto)
HD image: https://flic.kr/p/2p5p1WU

Further info: https://rism.online/sources/990062685
Listen free: No available

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(Jan Václav Stic) Giovanni Punto
(Zehušice, 28 September 1746 - Praha, 16 February 1803)

Bohemian horn player and composer. Born into a poor family on the estate of Count Joseph Johann von Thun, Stich was sent to Prague by his patron to study horn with Joseph Matiegka and composition with Johann Schindlarz. In 1764 he became a student of Anton Joseph Hampel in Dresden, where he perfected his technique of hand-stopping. His return to and service in the court ensemble of Count Thun, however, was marked by charges of insubordination, and he escaped to Italy pursued by the count’s thugs who were charged with either bringing him back to Bohemia or knocking out his front teeth. He made his way to Italy, where he “Italianized” his name to Giovanni Punto, winning approbation for his performance and obtaining a post as a violinist at the court of Joseph Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern- Heuchingen. In 1769 he moved to Mainz to perform for Elector-Archbishop Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim. In 1772 he began a career as a touring soloist, centering his activities in Paris and London, although he maintained a post with Archbishop Adam von Seinsheim in Würzburg and with the private orchestra of George III of England. Settling in Paris in 1788 he was appointed conductor of the Théâtre des Variétés Amusantes a year later, riding out the Revolution as a popular conductor. Refusal to appoint him to the faculty of the new Conservatoire in 1798, however, led him to return to touring in Bohemia and Austria, where his performance ability was noted by composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven. As a performer, he concentrated on second or low horn, perfecting the art of hand-stopping to produce notes outside the natural harmonic series. Charles Burney noted the “astounding execution” of his performances. As a composer, he concentrated on his own instrument, writing 16 horn concertos (plus another for two horns), 103 horn duets, 47 horn trios, 21 horn quartets, and a horn sextet; in addition he composed a clarinet concerto, three flute quartets, three flute quintets (with horn), and a large number of trios for flute and strings.