Zvi Meniker will perform Clementi piano sonatas Sept. 8 in Barnes Hall

Zvi Meniker

Cornell alumnus Zvi Meniker returns to Ithaca to present a fortepiano recital Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. in Barnes Hall, featuring piano works by Muzio Clementi, an Italian-born composer, music publisher and pianist who lived from 1752 to 1832. The music world celebrated the 250th anniversary of Clementi's birth in 2002 with concerts and festivals, stimulating renewed interest in this composer.

In 1766 Englishman Peter Beckford heard Clementi play and paid Clementi's father to allow him to take the boy to his English country estate for intensive musical studies and to serve as his house musician; he stayed there for seven years, taking advantage of the relatively isolated Dorsetshire setting, practicing harpsichord and producing his first compositions. Clementi then moved to London and began concertizing and publishing his works.

In 1780 he began a concerto tour that included Paris, where he allegedly played for Marie Antoinette, and Vienna, where he engaged in a famous keyboard contest with Mozart in 1781. His musical legacy includes more than 100 piano sonatas, many works for four-hand piano, two completed symphonies, four incomplete symphonies and the Piano Concerto in C.

For his Sept. 8 date in Barnes Hall, which is free and open to the public, Meniker will perform five Clementi piano sonatas dating from 1782 to 1802. He opens and closes with Sonatas in G Minor: op. 8, no. 1 from 1782, and op. 34, no. 2 from 1795. In between, concertgoers will hear op. 10, no. 1 in A Major; op. 13, no. 6 in F Minor; and op. 40, no. 1 in G Major.

A harpsichordist, organist and fortepianist, Meniker was born in Moscow and raised in Israel. Having begun advanced musical studies at the age of 15, he received diplomas with distinction from the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Zurich Academy of Music before moving on to the United States to study with Malcolm Bilson, Cornell professor of music.

Meniker commands a wide repertoire on his three instruments ranging from late medieval works to 20th century compositions and has won numerous awards at international competitions. He currently teaches harpsichord, fortepiano and performance practice at the Hannover Conservatory.