We are proud to present a disc which will surely make its mark - the first CD of the young and extremely promising pianist Yevgeny Sudbin. For this occasion Mr Sudbin has chosen to record a selection of keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. These sonatas were compared by poet Gabriele d'Annunzio to 'a necklace which breaks, producing a resounding hail of glistening pearls.' Brought to the attention of a wider audience by Sudbin's great compatriot Vladimir Horowitz, the collection of 555 sonatas contains a wide variety of moods and colours which Yevgeny Sudbin in his carefully selected programme succeeds in bringing out - while at the same time proving his own versatility as a musician. In his liner notes, Sudbin himself likens the sonatas to 'an assortment of diverse characters at a masquerade'. Perhaps this is a result of the spirit in which they were written: in an introduction to the sonatas, Scarlatti asked the public not to 'expect any profound Learning, but rather an ingenious Jesting with Art.' Besides his more scholarly preparations, Yevgeny Sudbin certainly entered into this spirit when experimenting with his own kitten in order to find out if the theme of the famous Cat Fugue could actually have been produced by Scarlatti's cat walking on the keyboard. (This is one popular myth that Mr. Sudbin does not ascribe to!) Described by a reviewer in The Independent as 'a pianist of uncommon sensitivity and refinement' with a 'total confidence in his imaginative concept of each piece', Yevgeny Sudbin at the age of 24 is on the threshold of what promises to become a most successful career and this disc, filled with glistening pearls, ingenious jests and beautiful masks, is the proof.