At age six Sgambati gave well-received public performances in Rome.

Giovanni Sgambati conducted the Italian premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in 1867. He conducted the Italian premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in 1870.

Let that sink in for a moment. Beethoven composed his Third Symphony in 1803 and the Seventh in 1812. He died in 1827. Two of his greatest symphonies weren’t heard in Italy until forty years after his death.

Italy was all about opera in the 19th Century. Can anyone name an Italian symphony from the 19th Century? Who was this Sgambati character who brought Beethoven’s symphonies to Italian audiences that weren’t clamoring for symphonies?

Sgambati was born in Rome. His father was an Italian lawyer who spent his leisure time with expatriate artists living in Rome. Sgambati’s mother was the daughter of the English sculptor Joseph Gott.

From the beginning, Sgambati had a cosmopolitan experience of the world. He was a gifted pianist and began playing in the salons of Roman high culture at the age of five. At age six he gave well-received public performances in Rome.

Sgambati’s father died around this time and the family moved to the small town of Trevi in central Italy. In Trevi, Sgambati perfected his technique as a pianist and moved back to Rome in 1860.

In 1862 he met Franz Liszt. Liszt saw an opportunity to pry a young Italian pianist away from the clutches of opera and arranged for Sgambati to move to Germany. While in Germany Sgambati’s experienced the rigors of German compositions and marveled at the sonic ability of the German orchestras.

Sgambati met Anton Rubenstein, the founder of the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories. Rubenstein was considered the greatest pianist in Russia and offered Sgambati a position in Moscow. Sgambati refused the position and founded his own music school in Rome.

Sgambati is something of an Italian Liszt or Rubenstein. All three men composed music but they were best known for their piano performances and as educators.

Sgambati wrote some good music. I’ve been listening to his first two symphonies, his piano concerto, his piano quintets, and his requiem.

I find the symphonies to be quite satisfying and I think the audiences of today would respond well to them. The piano concerto is resurrected every now and then by a big name pianist such as Jorge Bolet. The music itself isn’t that compelling but the piano part is solid, much like the piano concertos of Liszt and Rubenstein.

I tried to listen to Sgambati’s Requiem but I found it be tedious. It was written in 1895 and at that point, Verdi’s Requiem was established as the preeminent Italian requiem.

The piano quintets are fantastic. I would love to get a chance to hear them live. In 1876 Sgambati met Richard Wagner. Wagner was so impressed with Sgmabati that he pushed for the publication of Sgambati’s two piano quintets.

Was Sgambati a genius? Not by 19th Century standards. However, his music is worthy of consideration. Listen to those piano quintets and I’m sure you will agree.