The art and music of 18th-century Spain
About
Beginning in 1504, Spanish rulers held sway in southern Italy for almost three centuries. Artists and composers travelled between the great centres of Madrid and Naples, as well as Rome and Venice to the north, exchanging ideas and influences. Together, they shaped a common artistic culture that endured until at least the end of the 1700s.
In this musical performance and talk, Ida Pelliccioli, classical pianist, and Daniel Sobrino Ralston, the National Gallery’s CEEH Associate Curator of Spanish Paintings, explore the art and music of the Spanish court in the 18th century. They discuss the composers and artists, like Padre Antonio Soler and Francisco de Goya, who took inspiration from both Italian and Spanish traditions, uniting them in search of new forms of expression.
For the evening’s repertoire, Ida Pelliccioli has chosen pieces by three composers who worked at and around the Spanish court: Domenico Scarlatti, his student Padre Antonio Soler and a forgotten composer, Manuel Blasco de Nebra, nicknamed ‘the Spanish Scarlatti.’
Ida Pelliccioli
Ida Pelliccioli was born in Bergamo, Italy. She studied at the Nice Conservatoire de Région and at the École Normale de Musique de Paris - Alfred Cortot in the class of Sergueï Markarov, Unesco Artist for Peace. During her studies, she was awarded several scholarships, including one from the Zygmunt Zaleski Foundation and another from the Fondation Albert Roussel.
Pelliccioli participated in a number of masterclasses and received a double diploma in interpretation and pedagogy at the École Normale in Paris. She received artistic guidance from Norma Fisher, who teaches at the Royal College of Music in London, and Stephen Gutman. She is one of the rare pianists to have received guidance from the Cuban concert pianist Jorge Luis Prats.
Pelliccioli chose to avoid the international competition circuit and, before becoming a full-time pianist, received a double master diploma at the Sorbonne University, studying Italian literature and ancient Greek history, specialising, for the latter, in the practice of music during the Hellenistic period.
She has performed throughout Europe, Canada, South Africa and Australia. In 2024, she has debuted in Sweden, Lithuania, Austria, Iceland and Australia. She will make her debut in New Zealand in 2025.
Daniel Sobrino Ralston
Daniel Sobrino Ralston is the CEEH Associate Curator of Spanish Paintings at the National Gallery. He has published and lectured widely on Spanish art from the 17th and 19th centuries, contributing to After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art (2023) and Saint Francis of Assisi (2023). Previously, at the Meadows Museum, he curated Sorolla in the Studio (2019), a focused exhibition that explored the painter’s working methods. He received his PhD from Columbia University.
Baroque and beyond
The art and music of 18th-century Spain
Tickets
Standard: £22
Concessions: £14
Tickets include entry to the National Gallery.
Please arrive in good time to access the building and find the event.
Bookings close one hour before the event.
Concessions are for full-time students, jobseekers, and disabled adults.