COMPOSERS: D Scarlatti
LABELS: Zig Zag
ALBUM TITLE: D Scarlatti
WORKS: Keyboard Sonatas: K 1, 9, 30, 32, 87, 159, 193, 208, 209, 213, 247, 427, 462, 466, 474, 457, 481 & 551
PERFORMER: Racha Arodaky (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: ZZT 060202
Racha Arodaky, much better known
in France than in England, has wide
musical interests. Recent recordings
of Mendelssohn’s Songs without
Words and Scriabin Preludes have
been rapturously acclaimed, and
her new disc of Sonatas by Scarlatti
deserves to make wide appeal. Her
carefully chosen 18 sonatas strike
a just balance between mirth and
melancholy and she sounds fluent
and convincing in both humours.
In all but two pieces Arodaky’s
pairing of sonatas differs from
the scheme suggested by Ralph
Kirkpatrick. Two A major Sonatas,
K 208 and 209, are kept together,
for the first of them, wistful and
reflective, provides a splendid foil
for the lively gestures of the other.
These, together with the tenderly
pensive B minor Sonata, K 87
(calling to mind in its opening phrase
Rameau’s La Villageoise), a D minor
Sonata, K 9, and the so-called ‘Cat’s
Fugue’, K 30, probably will be the
most familiar items in Arodaky’s
programme. Others, such as the
beautifully crafted F minor Sonata,
K 466, are less often played but
deserve wider currency: Arodaky
judges the character of this poetic
piece well, responding sensitively to
its fragility and emphasising its songlike
melodic line.
In short, this is Scarlatti playing
which makes considerable appeal. No
exaggerated gestures, no histrionics
and no blurring of textures which,
throughout, Arodaky preserves with
praiseworthy clarity. A fine recital,
but the D major Sonata (K 24),
highlighted by the author of the
accompanying booklet note, is not in
fact included. Nicholas Anderson