COMPOSERS: Domenico Scarlatti
LABELS: DG
WORKS: Harpsichord Sonatas
PERFORMER: Ralph Kirkpatrick (harpsichord)
CATALOGUE NO: 439 438-2 ADD (1971)
The late Ralph Kirkpatrick was not only one of the century’s most noted Scarlatti scholars, but also a performer who enjoyed a reputation during the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies as an illuminating interpreter of late Baroque harpsichord music. This disc, recorded in 1971, was one of the last he made and it is a fine testament to his many insights into Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonatas. Kirkpatrick’s disc, containing a mere 18 of his 555 or so harpsichord pieces, provides the listener with a pleasingly varied cross-section of Scarlatti’s legacy, reminding us at almost every turn that a deceptively similar outward appearance masks an extraordinary wealth of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic ideas. Performances of greater technical virtuosity abound but this is a disc to treasure. Nicholas Anderson
Domenico Scarlatti: Harpsichord Sonatas
The late Ralph Kirkpatrick was not only one of the century’s most noted Scarlatti scholars, but also a performer who enjoyed a reputation during the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies as an illuminating interpreter of late Baroque harpsichord music. This disc, recorded in 1971, was one of the last he made and it is a fine testament to his many insights into Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonatas.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm