Topic: Baroque and early music on piano excluding Bach

[amw]

I'm not sure if Scarlatti is early enough to be applicable to this thread, but since you brought him up, I've been going through a fair bit of the Scarlatti-on-piano (and some of the harpsichord, but there's more piano stuff) catalogue and have a number of recommendations.

In first place I'd put Aline Zylberajch's disc on Ambronay, on a Cristofori instrument from the 1740s. Maybe even more for the instrument than the interpreter, but both are very fine. There is a bit more Scarlatti on fortepiano but less than one might imagine (one disc by Linda Nicholson and one by David Schrader, neither of which has made as much of an impression on me, and a few of the sonatas in the Belder integral).

Among the "classic" piano recordings alongside Horowitz I'd put Maria Tipo, the "Neapolitan Horowitz", whose Scarlatti I prefer to Horowitz's actually, Marcelle Meyer, and Christian Zacharias's EMI recordings—would consider all three essential for any Scarlatti enthusiast. Anne Quéffelec is also good, although better on Mirare than Erato.

From the Naxos series the only pianists I've liked have been Benjamin Frith (vol. 5), Evgeny Zarafiants (vol. 6), Soyeon Kate Lee (vols. 8 and 21), Goran Filipec (vol. 19) and a standalone disc by Balázs Szokolay. I may give the remaining volumes more detailed listens at some point though, as this was based on sampling of fairly brief snippets.

Nikolai Demidenko, Sergei Babayan and Michelangelo Carbonara also have very good individual albums which may or may not be easy to find. Mikhail Pletnev, Claire Huangci and Yevgeny Sudbin are a bit weird but committed to whatever they're doing, so that may or may not be of interest.

[Jo498]

As an only version the Gavrilov/Richter is not very satisfying for the Handel, even if one likes the playing and is not bothered by the rather mediocre sound because two of the more famous pieces are missing. Namely, the B flat major suite HWV 434 Brahms took the variation theme from and the  Chaconne HWV 435. There is a great disc with Pinnock on harpsichord (Archiv, also a re-issue with that grey-silver design) that includes both. As I said above, I also didn't bother with more piano recordings of this music because I prefer harpsichord. Although Schirmer's completish set and a few anthologies are highly regarded.

[Mandryka]

I'm not sure if Scarlatti is early enough to be applicable to this thread, but since you brought him up, I've been going through a fair bit of the Scarlatti-on-piano (and some of the harpsichord, but there's more piano stuff) catalogue and have a number of recommendations.

In first place I'd put Aline Zylberajch's disc on Ambronay, on a Cristofori instrument from the 1740s. Maybe even more for the instrument than the interpreter, but both are very fine. There is a bit more Scarlatti on fortepiano but less than one might imagine (one disc by Linda Nicholson and one by David Schrader, neither of which has made as much of an impression on me, and a few of the sonatas in the Belder integral).

Among the "classic" piano recordings alongside Horowitz I'd put Maria Tipo, the "Neapolitan Horowitz", whose Scarlatti I prefer to Horowitz's actually, Marcelle Meyer, and Christian Zacharias's EMI recordings—would consider all three essential for any Scarlatti enthusiast. Anne Quéffelec is also good, although better on Mirare than Erato.

From the Naxos series the only pianists I've liked have been Benjamin Frith (vol. 5), Evgeny Zarafiants (vol. 6), Soyeon Kate Lee (vols. 8 and 21), Goran Filipec (vol. 19) and a standalone disc by Balázs Szokolay. I may give the remaining volumes more detailed listens at some point though, as this was based on sampling of fairly brief snippets.

Nikolai Demidenko, Sergei Babayan and Michelangelo Carbonara also have very good individual albums which may or may not be easy to find. Mikhail Pletnev, Claire Huangci and Yevgeny Sudbin are a bit weird but committed to whatever they're doing, so that may or may not be of interest.

Did you ever hear this?

[amw]

Yes, I have it. I like it reasonably well but need to revisit for more detailed comments.

[Mandryka]

Yes, I have it. I like it reasonably well but need to revisit for more detailed comments.

It's so well received by piano people that I guess there must be something special, but it has always left me neither hot nor cold.  Including now -- I put the second LP on after making the post. But as I say, the pianophiles seem to love it.

I've got one Demidenko CD but there are two. The one I have is so good that I'm slightly tempted to get the other, even though I'm not much interested in the music,  the performance seems so agreeable.

[amw]

I certainly don't love the Bonaventura, although I do appreciate the repertoire, and a relisten to K417 left me unsatisfied with his articulation and phrasing. That said, it was definitely OK, so maybe I liked other sonatas better and that's what my historic positive opinion was based on.

I didn't know there was a second Demidenko recording.

[Mandryka]

     

I think we both have the green; the red is detailed here

https://www.discogs.com/Scarlatti-Demidenko-Keyboard-Sonatas/release/3389071

[amw]

Indeed—I've ordered the Sanctus one. About $30 including shipping, but I've bought more expensive CDs this year. (Why I'm trusted with money at all is an open question.)

[Mandryka]

Indeed—I've ordered the Sanctus one.

You are a very bad influence.

[milk]

Very enjoyable.

[mc ukrneal]

Indeed—I've ordered the Sanctus one. About $30 including shipping, but I've bought more expensive CDs this year. (Why I'm trusted with money at all is an open question.)

Great quote. It seems to extend to the majority of GMGers!

[mc ukrneal]

     

I think we both have the green; the red is detailed here

https://www.discogs.com/Scarlatti-Demidenko-Keyboard-Sonatas/release/3389071

He also has a couple sonatas on his Live from Wigmore Hall disc. I've always liked them. Not sure how he plays a whole grouping, but these are quite delicate and beautiful.

[Mandryka]

He also has a couple sonatas on his Live from Wigmore Hall disc. I've always liked them. Not sure how he plays a whole grouping, but these are quite delicate and beautiful.

I was at those concerts!

[mc ukrneal]

I was at those concerts!

That must have been pretty special. The discs are uniformly excellent.

[Mandryka]

That must have been pretty special. The discs are uniformly excellent.

I saw him a lot at the time. Some unforgettable concerts -- Schumann esp.

He was always drunk, always a blond in tow.

[JCBuckley]

For Scarlatti on the piano, this is the recording to which I return most often:

[amw]

For some even earlier music on piano, Bruce Brubaker played some selections from the Codex Faenza alongside some Terry Riley. The Faenza music sounds significantly more "modern" but some of that may be the interpretation; Brubaker plays everything like it's Stravinsky.

[amw]

It's so well received by piano people that I guess there must be something special, but it has always left me neither hot nor cold.  Including now -- I put the second LP on after making the post. But as I say, the pianophiles seem to love it.

This came up in random listening today and I thought it was actually quite exceptional:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/aes-vDTgbms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/aes-vDTgbms</a>
Bonaventura Scarlatti K446.

His tempo is approximately 50% slower than average (Scarlatti's marking is "Allegrissimo"—this certainly is not that); there's almost no counterpoint to bring out, the sonata is written almost entirely in two parts. I think it's exceptional partly because of the choice of tempo and partly because of the command of line and phrasing. Also a good use of piano sound in general.

[Mandryka]

Released last week. Initial impresssions are that this is fun and easy to listen to -- but then I enjoyed his Gibbons.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8728912--the-long-17th-century-a-cornucopia-of-early-keyboard-music-2cd

[vers la flamme]

Is there much love for these performances of Handel's Keyboard Suites from a live performance at a French festival in 1979? I'm not sure who organized this concert, the idea of Richter playing half, Gavrilov playing the other half. Just seems unusual to me. But the results are brilliant. A bit too much background noise, but this is Richter we're talking so that is to be expected.