Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)

[Que]

I'm interested in hearing Scarlatti's harpsichord pieces, but not willing to pay upwards of $100 for a complete set (even if it were a third that price I wouldn't want it). With a first recording I am really only interested in how it sounds and how well it is recorded (this seems especially important with the harpsichord). Any comments on these single-disc sets? Have I overlooked anyone?

I would go for the Scott Ross, and see if you like his super-brilliant approach. I have the complete set and that's still a favourite with me. 

I'm not a fan of Pieter-Jan Belder's deliberateness. Long time since I heard Pierre Hantaï, and that was his Naïve recording and not on Mirare. Thought it to be quirky at the time but might see things different now.

Ottavio Dantone's Scarlatti is not as special as his Bach, if to be judged by the one disc a recently got. Enrico Baiano's ultra-free, quixotic style is an acquired taste, for sure!

Q

[ezodisy]

I'm interested in hearing Scarlatti's harpsichord pieces

try Youtube. That way the only thing you'll lose will be your hearing.

[Bunny]

Don & Others - despite my large CD collection I have a limited collection of Scarlatti's Sonatas only on piano - I've been buying & enjoying 'harpsichord recordings' recently of Handel, Couperin, et al, so would like to explore Domenico's works, but there are SO MANY - now, I'm not one to desire 'multiple' interpretations (one or two excellent ones would be fine) - I own some Hantai in Couperin's works which I love, so is this performer one of the best top choices in Scarlatti?  Thanks all - Dave 

First, while I adore collecting complete sets by single artists, perhaps to start you should sample different artists' takes on the works.  That way you can see how varied his music can sound depending on the sensibility interpreting the music.

Hantaï is one of the top harpsichordists in the world, which makes anything he has recorded of interest.  This earliest Scarlatti recording (which is currently on sale at arkivmusic as well) might be a good starting point as it is less expensive than his newer mirare recordings.  His youthful play was more straightforward as in his first recording of the Goldbergs which were recorded around the same time.  As I recall, there is a great 5 cd set of his recordings that include the Scarlatti from Astree that I picked up very inexpensively at amazon a couple of years back.  That included works by Bach (harpsichord concertos BWV 1044,1052, 1054), Bull (Dr. Bull's Good Night), Frescobaldi and Telemann as well as the single Scarlatti disc.  It's still available at amazon for about $35.00, and a great bargain if you can see your way to spending the extra $$$.  Another interesting alternative is Christophe Rousset's lone Scarlatti recording which is also quite good (used the Hemsch).  I haven't listened to it in years, but I do remember enjoying it a few years back.  That recording is actually oop, but copies are still available for sale very inexpensively.  The third cd which is also available is the DG reissue of Trevor Pinnock's Scarlatti (also at budget prices under $5.00).  That too would be a good starting point, although Pinnock is very "English" in his approach to Scarlatti -- no flights of fancy although he does put some fire in the more quickly paced essersizii.  Although there are no album notes with the Pinnock, they can be downloaded at the DG Al Fresco website with the code provided in the digipack under the cd.  If you decide to opt for the more expensive Mirare Hantaï discs, Vol 2 starts with the Fuga K.58 which is one of my favorite Scarlatti pieces.

   

[Drasko]

There's a cheap Hantai Scarlatti CD at BRO.  Don't know how it compares to the Mirare, which, wonder of wonders, I found at Borders.

Well, it does say Ambroisie but catalogue number MIR9918 is catalogue number of first volume of Hantai's Mirare discs (and number of sonatas and total timing fits), I'd guess misprint on the label part.

[Bunny]

Well, it does say Ambroisie but catalogue number MIR9918 is catalogue number of first volume of Hantai's Mirare discs (and number of sonatas and total timing fits), I'd guess misprint on the label part.

Mirare is part of the same recording group as Ambroisie, Alpha, Alia Vox, Astree, Naive, Arcana, Andante, Ars Musica, Audite, et al. so it's not surprising that BRO lists them together.  What's really nice is that the cd, which is actually an SACD is available so cheaply!  In fact, I'm jealous that because I already have the cd I can't take advantage of the bargain

That is definitely a must have disc for anyone who loves Scarlatti, and appreciates Hantaï's artistry.

[Opus106]

Scarlatti/Hantai available for $12 (14 if you include shipping) here.

[SonicMan46]

Scarlatti/Hantai available for $12 (14 if you include shipping) here.

Opus67 - thanks for the link above; just ordered the three Hantai CDs @ $12/each - $6 total shipping to the USA - I can certainly 'live with' those prices considering the rave reviews of this series - Dave 

[Opus106]

Opus67 - thanks for the link above; just ordered the three Hantai CDs @ $12/each - $6 total shipping to the USA - I can certainly 'live with' those prices considering the rave reviews of this series - Dave 

You're welcome.

[Que]

This is the one I own too. I am not sure, that I like his style with this composer. Does it get better with time (repeated listening)? Do you intend to acquire Vol.I.?

Yes, it does get better - I liked it right from the start, but there is more to discover. Definitely will get vol.1.
But, as you quite appropriately remarked before: these are highly individual, brilliant and very free, quixotic interpretations.
I guess Enrico Baiano is the Italian counterpart of Christophe Rousset of sorts.

I've noticed that in harpsichord players you lean, unlike me, more towards the "Leonhardt School": Leonhardt himself (naturally  ), Borgstede, Belder, Gilbert, Moroney. Harpsichordists I generally do not prefer.
So, it might just be that on Baiano our tastes do not match!

Q

[Opus106]

I've noticed that in harpsichord players you lean, unlike me, more towards the "Leonhardt School": Leonhardt himself (naturally  ), Borgstede, Belder, Gilbert, Moroney. Harpsichordists I generally do not prefer.
Q

I read somewhere that Belder was a student of Bob van Asperen.

Never mind that. I obviously mistook 'school' for 'a direct pupil of.' Sorry.

[jlaurson]

Has anyone heard the two CDs from Alain Planes? He does not use a harpsichord, but a form of a early piano the sound of which I like.
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/3121906

" So, those sonatas were not written for an early piano, then? "

Yes. I've heard that CD - - and it's quite pleasant. (I wrote a review of it, here:

"Here now is further proof that the twangy transition bastard, that twilight creature of keyboard development, presents in itself some very pleasing characteristics. It better, too, because there is no historical claim to interpretive accuracy to playing the Essercizi K.1-30 of Scarlatti on a fortepiano... much less one that is, like Planès' Schantz, from circa 1800. ")

No, it wasn't written for an early piano. We don't know if Scarlatti ever encountered forte-pianos, and it is not likely he ever wrote for it. Certainly not these early works, though. That said, it's an intriguing, even lovely disc of Scarlatti.

-------------------------------------------

Favorite Scarlatti:

Piano:

       

Mikhail Pletnev, Virgin [perhaps the best Scarlatti recording there is. Period. And so cheap, it's an absolute must-have bargain.]

Ivo Pogorelich, DG [Not up to Pletnev, me thinks, but almost. One of Pogo's very best recordings.]

Yevgeni Sudbin, BIS [One of my favorite recordings in 2007, this is the piano-Scarlatti recording to rival Pletnev... SACD-hybrid and of course at BIS-price it's a tad more an investment. Very much worth it, though.

Harpsichord:

Complete Sets:

Scott Ross' Box made it to the top spot of my 2005 "Best of" list, but it's a *lot* of Scarlatti.

From that blurb: "Scott Ross is one of the few to have traversed every single one of those 555 sonatas (alas, he sadly did not live to tell the tale - Scott Ross died in 1989, aged 38, from AIDS-related causes) - and it is not the accomplishment of having done that, but the accomplishment with which he did it, that makes this set so tremendous. His art can be sampled on the single disc of Les Plus Belles Sonates."

Pieter-Jan Balder recorded all the sonatas for Brilliant. I reviewed the last three three-disc sets of that (now complete) set here. Good stuff - probably better than my conclusion (of the clunky plastic sets, not the new, space saving paper-box cube) makes it seem:

"Yes, more color and more variety might have served Belder well. A more spirited and individual approach to the sonatas would have livened up matters here and there. For that, the Scarlatti aficionado will have to go elsewhere, which he or she might as well. For getting to know more Scarlatti sonatas at a 'nice-price', Belder is an obvious choice. Another quibble, though: The liner notes are pathetic (the same two-page fold-out in each set), even for the money-saving Brilliant Classics standards. The layout is as ugly as most of the Brilliant discs were ten years ago (when the series got under way). To make these recordings attractive to a much wider group of potential buyers Brilliant should strongly consider re-issuing the set in twelve or nine slim paper boxes and somewhat spruced-up liner notes. Just like their "Scottish Songs of Haydn" collection, for example."

Single discs:

I don't love Kipnis, really... and I've been a bit disappointed by the "Best of" disc by Richard Lester [a compilation from his complete cycle on Nimbus]... but I find it difficult to pin down just why. I suppose I miss playfulness and an element of surprise in his interpretations.

I grew up on my uncle's Scarlatti recordings (on a harpsichord - still on Vinyl from a small Swiss label) - and they had etched themselves into my understand of what Scarlatti ought to be. So it took me quite a some time until I found Scarlatti on harpsichord that was not only good but really impressive. The above mentioned and linked-to Scott Ross Highlights CD is one of them. But even better are the four Hantai discs! I don't care if he makes a complete set... I just want to hear as much of whatever sonatas he thinks are worth playing, played as well as he does, on as good-sounding an instrument as he plays. He is to Scarlatti what Rousset is to Bach on the harpsichord. [The Ambroise recordings of Rousset, not Decca.]

____________

[Que]

We don't know if Scarlatti ever encountered forte-pianos, and it is not likely he ever wrote for it. Certainly not these early works, though. That said, it's an intriguing, even lovely disc of Scarlatti.

Since Scarlatti's employer, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain owned no less than five early fortepiano's (according to Ralph Kirkpatrick), it seems quite unlikely that he would never have encountered that instrument.

Whether he wrote for the fortepiano, is of course another matter.
His sonatas sound awfully good on harpsichord though!

I wholeheartedly agree with you on Scott Ross (and a lot of Scarlatti is fine by me! ), also on your view on Pieter-Jan Belder.
But quite disagree on the choises for piano: Pletnev is absolutely horrible IMO, don't like Pogorelich either, haven't heard Sudbin. Where is Horowitz?!

Q

[SonicMan46]

Since Scarlatti's employer, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain owned no less than five early fortepiano's (according to Ralph Kirkpatrick), it seems quite unlikely that he would never have encountered that instrument.

His sonatas sound awfully good on harpsichord though!

But quite disagree on the choises for piano: Pletnev is absolutely horrible IMO, don't like Pogorelich either, haven't heard Sudbin. Where is Horowitz?!

Q - I enjoyed reading the post by jlaurson, i.e. the piano versions w/ Pletnev & Sudbin are the ones that I own currently; the Pletnev recordings have received superlative reviews, including a keyed 3* rating in the newest '09 Penguin Guide - at the price for 2-CDs, this is a set hard to ignore, esp. as an introduction; as for the Sudbin, you must give this disc a listen - don't believe that I've seen a negative comment!

Now, I've just ordered the Hantai 3 CDs on harpsichord because of the many recommendations here, esp. by Don - I expect these to be superlative - I hope this will be true because I have bought/sold/culled so many piano & harpsichord discs of these works over the years - would like to just get down to a 'nice' collection, and don't need all 550+ versions of these works - too much other music to hear!    Dave 

[jlaurson]

Since Scarlatti's employer, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain owned no less than five early fortepiano's (according to Ralph Kirkpatrick), it seems quite unlikely that he would never have encountered that instrument.

Good point. (When did those instruments enter the collection, though, I wonder. I haven't the material handy to look that up, I am afraid.

Whether he wrote for the fortepiano, is of course another matter.
His sonatas sound awfully good on harpsichord though!

Yeah, not half bad.

(Here is a longer review of the Pletnev/Scarlatti disc.)

But quite disagree on the choises for piano: Pletnev is absolutely horrible IMO, don't like Pogorelich either, haven't heard Sudbin. Where is Horowitz?!

Well, then we must - shockingly - disagree. But I not only think that Pletnev/Scarlatti is the best Scarlatti on piano, I think it's the best Pletnev recording (which may mean nothing to a lot of people) and it is one of the ten best solo piano recordings I own. And that is saying something. And I've found very few (none, come to think of it) who didn't also fall in love with it after hearing it. I worked at Tower Records, once upon a time, and I made a point of playing that album a lot. I sold upward of 600 copies in the time I was there; easy ten times more than we sold of other "bestsellers". Horowitz, sure... I dig, too.

[prémont]

I grew up on my uncle's Scarlatti recordings (on a harpsichord - still on Vinyl from a small Swiss label) - and it they had etched myself into my understanding of what Scarlatti ought to be.

Could this be Luciano Sgrizzi?

[Que]

I worked at Tower Records, once upon a time, and I made a point of playing that album a lot. I sold upward of 600 copies in the time I was there; easy ten times more than we sold of other "bestsellers". Horowitz, sure... I dig, too.

Ahhh, you're evoking some nostalgia with me as well.
I also worked in a music shop once - and frequently played Horowitz' Scarlatti. Like in your case with Pletnev, it sold every time I played it. Goes to show the unique qualities of Domenico!

Q

[The new erato]

Could this be Luciano Sgrizzi?

Turnabout? Anyway, the name evokes memories. Must go on some major archeological excavations somewhere in my collection. My first exposure to Scarlatti IIRC.

[Daverz]

Turnabout? Anyway, the name evokes memories. Must go on some major archeological excavations somewhere in my collection. My first exposure to Scarlatti IIRC.

It appeared on Nonesuch in the US, and on CD on the Accord label.

[Opus106]

Yes. I've heard that CD - - and it's quite pleasant. (I wrote a review of it, here:

"Here now is further proof that the twangy transition bastard, that twilight creature of keyboard development, presents in itself some very pleasing characteristics. It better, too, because there is no historical claim to interpretive accuracy to playing the Essercizi K.1-30 of Scarlatti on a fortepiano... much less one that is, like Planès' Schantz, from circa 1800. ")

No, it wasn't written for an early piano. We don't know if Scarlatti ever encountered forte-pianos, and it is not likely he ever wrote for it. Certainly not these early works, though. That said, it's an intriguing, even lovely disc of Scarlatti.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that recording, jlaurson.

[Bunny]

Scarlatti on piano?  Definitely, included in my favorites is Alexis Weissenberg's cd which is long out of print but finally on demand at Arkivmusic.com. 

It's got a negative rating at amazon because the arkiv cd reviewed skipped.  Hopefully, that was an anomaly.

Sorry, but I don't know how to edit attachments so that they appear a little smaller.