Your favorite composer born in 1685

[Karl Henning]

I have'nt heard any Scarlatti and only a little of Handel  so my vote goes to Bach - love his Instrumental and orchestral work with a passion and my favourite Composer too! 

You. Haven't. Heard. ANY. Scarlatti?

You shouldn't vote, then.

[Conor71]

My interest is piqued now Jens and Karl so I decided to buy a Scarlatti Disc! (see purchases thread)

[jlaurson]

My interest is piqued now Jens and Karl so I decided to buy a Scarlatti Disc! (see purchases thread)

Fellow fans of Scarlatti (who also voted for Bach); we salute you!

[TheGSMoeller]

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[asin]B000WPJ7WA[/asin]


This also includes the Salve Regina and Te Deum. Get it, It's a Moellerphone winner. 

[madaboutmahler]

A really difficult question.... I really struggled to choose between Bach and Handel, but then thinking of Bach's '48', I just had to vote for him. Shame to miss out Scarlatti as well, absolutely love his keyboard sonatas.

[Szykneij]

Scarbachandelatti.

[71 dB]

My interest is piqued now Jens and Karl so I decided to buy a Scarlatti Disc! (see purchases thread)

I have to admit that I own only one dics of D. Scarlatti (Sonatas Vol. 1 - Eteri Andjaparidze - Naxos).

Somehow I find Domenico's father Alessandro more interesting composer (4 CDs plus few works on discs of various composers).

[Karl Henning]

"Somehow" = "I've only got one Naxos disc, which I'm taking as thoroughly normative"

[71 dB]

"Somehow" = "I've only got one Naxos disc, which I'm taking as thoroughly normative"

Who says "I'm taking as thoroughly normative"? I don't have the luxury of owning every single Scarlatti disc ever released. You?

Why don't you just let me have my stupid opinions Karl? Other people just aren't as wise and intelligent as you.

[Bulldog]

I have to admit that I own only one dics of D. Scarlatti (Sonatas Vol. 1 - Eteri Andjaparidze - Naxos).

Although I prefer Scarlatti on harpsichord, I do think highly of that Vol. 1.  Hope you're enjoying it.

[71 dB]

Hope you're enjoying it.

I am. It has almost 80 minutes of music, 17 sonatas.   

I'm not sure I need all 555 of them. 

[jlaurson]

I am. It has almost 80 minutes of music, 17 sonatas.   

I'm not sure I need all 555 of them.  ???

No. Not "need". And it wouldn't be the next logical step, anyway.
But you might want to explore further, and I think you can't go wrong with any of these discs... either on the piano (pf) or harpsichord:

Essential Domenico (keyboard)

Does one need all the keyboard sonatas? No, surely not. Not anyone who asks the question, at any rate. 
But there are a couple essentials:

Pletnev / Virgin pf

Hantai 0 / naive harpsichord

Horowitz / Sony pf

Hantai 1 / Mirare harpsichord

Sudbin / BIS pf

Hantai 2 / Mirare harpsichord

Tharaud / Virgin pf

Hantai 3 / Mirare harpsichord

Pogorelich / DG pf

Ross / Erato harpsichord

Zhu Xiao-Mei / Mirare pf

[71 dB]

No. Not "need". And it wouldn't be the next logical step, anyway.
But you might want to explore further, and I think you can't go wrong with any of these discs... either on the piano (pf) or harpsichord:

How much further? What's enough for you? 50 sonatas? 100? 200? There must be considerable musical redundancy within the 555 sonatas.

Harpsichord disc would be logical, of course.

[Lethevich]

How much further? What's enough for you? 50 sonatas? 100? 200? There must be considerable musical redundancy within the 555 sonatas.

In the case of music like Scarlatti's sonatas, you can't pick the "good" or the "bad" pieces, as I find each one I play rewarding at the time of listening. While there will be some duplication of ideas, the appeal will be in the new way it is developed that time around.

How much you require depends on how much you enjoy the style. If you really enjoy a couple of single discs, a full cycle (if you can find it at the right price) would be a good investment.

[71 dB]

How much you require depends on how much you enjoy the style.

In fact I bought the Naxos disc many years ago in order to find out how much I enjoy the style. I do like the style but not in extreme way. There are considerable amount of composers I am more interested, Alessandro Scarlatti being one of them. I can't see why some people prefer D. Scarlatti over Bach and Handel (!?!) But it is a question of taste. The one D.Scarlatti disc I own has satisfied my appetite well.

[Lethevich]

Sounds alright

[Bulldog]

How much further? What's enough for you? 50 sonatas? 100? 200? There must be considerable musical redundancy within the 555 sonatas.

No reason to get hung up on numbers.  If you're satisfied with just that one Naxos disc, that's fine.  If you might want more, the list provided by Jens gives you many alternatives.  From that list, I favor Hantai and Sudbin.

[71 dB]

If you're satisfied with just that one Naxos disc, that's fine.

Exactly. I am busy listening to the CDs I own so why buy more? I have 9 new CDs waiting for my attention and 3 (+2 of Carly Simon) more waiting for delivery.

If you might want more, the list provided by Jens gives you many alternatives.  From that list, I favor Hantai and Sudbin.

I checked the harpsichord options but unfortunately none of them was cheap enough for my collecting habits. So, if I try D. Scarlatti on harpsichord, it will most probably be a budget release and not Hantai or Sudbin. At the moment I am much more interested about getting my first Frescobaldi (yes, I have nothing from him!) disc. Or my first Hindemith disc. I have hardly anything by de Falla and Albéniz. It is h-o-p-e-l-e-s-s to collect a comprehensive collection on classical music!

[jlaurson]

Exactly. I am busy listening to the CDs I own so why buy more? I have 9 new CDs waiting for my attention and 3 (+2 of Carly Simon) more waiting for delivery.

I checked the harpsichord options but unfortunately none of them was cheap enough for my collecting habits. So, if I try D. Scarlatti on harpsichord, it will most probably be a budget release and not Hantai or Sudbin. At the moment I am much more interested about getting my first Frescobaldi (yes, I have nothing from him!) disc. Or my first Hindemith disc. I have hardly anything by de Falla and Albéniz. It is h-o-p-e-l-e-s-s to collect a comprehensive collection on classical music!

Not quite hopeless... with time, things will fall into place.

Are you headed for the "Amazing Frescobaldi Bargain" by ordering the complete keyboard works? Would be overkill, perhaps, except that it costs less than one full price CD.

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2009/12/grab-it-while-you-can-frescobaldis.html

Re: Scarlatti: Sudbin is a piano performance. A nice price for a harpsichord disc would be found with the Scott Ross "Le plus belles Sonates" (About 9 pounds via Amazon.co.uk). Do check out (given sufficient interest, that is) Pletnev, as well... 2 CDs for five quid -- an amazing bargain and a stupendous album.

[71 dB]

Are you headed for the "Amazing Frescobaldi Bargain" by ordering the complete keyboard works? Would be overkill, perhaps, except that it costs less than one full price CD.

No, I was planning to get the Naxos twofer that has organ works too. I listened to it on Spotify and liked the performances.