COMPOSERS: Domenico Scarlatti
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Sonatas
PERFORMER: Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord)
CATALOGUE NO: SBK 60099 ADD 1978
The cover is ambiguous. Domenico Scarlatti’s Essercizi per gravicembalo is the title of a collection of 30 harpsichord sonatas, printed in London in about 1739. Gustav Leonhardt’s discerningly chosen but random selection of 14 pieces includes only one of them. The remaining sonatas, like the majority, were unpublished during Scarlatti’s lifetime. This is a spirited and virtuoso recital in which Leonhardt revels in the myriad contrapuntal conceits, imitations, cascades, syncopations, chromaticisms and dissonances which reflect Scarlatti’s radiant genius. Here is music full of atmosphere and irresistible allure. Nicholas Anderson
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonatas
The cover is ambiguous. Domenico Scarlatti’s Essercizi per gravicembalo is the title of a collection of 30 harpsichord sonatas, printed in London in about 1739. Gustav Leonhardt’s discerningly chosen but random selection of 14 pieces includes only one of them. The remaining sonatas, like the majority, were unpublished during Scarlatti’s lifetime. This is a spirited and virtuoso recital in which Leonhardt revels in the myriad contrapuntal conceits, imitations, cascades, syncopations, chromaticisms and dissonances which reflect Scarlatti’s radiant genius.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm