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Avison: Sonatas Op 1 & Op 8 / Avison Ensemble

Divine Art

$27.99 Feb 01, 2009

Unfailingly enjoyable music, performance and recording.

The Avison Ensemble continue to do proud the composer whose name they bear. Having recorded his Opp. 3 and 4 (Naxos 8.557905-6 – see review) and Op.6 Concertos (Naxos 8.557553-4 – see Jonathan Woolf’s review and Johan van Veen’s review), Concerti after Geminiani (Divine Art DDA21210 – see review), the Op.9 and Op.10 Concerti Grossi (DDA21211) and his Concerti Grossi after D Scarlatti (DDA21213), they now turn their attention to the Op.1 Trio Sonatas and the Op.8 Keyboard Sonatas with accompaniments. I’m on record as offering high praise to DDA21211 – see review – and DDA21213 – see review – and Jonathan Woolf was also lavish in his praise for DDA21213 – see review.

The works on the new set may not reach quite the heights of the Concertos after Geminiani and Scarlatti – go for those two sets first – but they are by no means negligible: unfailingly tuneful and well-constructed. The Op.1 pieces may well have had their origin as exercises when Avison was being tutored by Geminiani; if so, they are the work of a very competent and inspired pupil, by no means a slavish imitator of his mentor. Even when he adapted the keyboard works of Geminiani and Scarlatti, Avison did much more than merely orchestrate their music, just as Geminiani had done in orchestrating the music of his own mentor, Corelli.

The Op.1 Sonatas are advertised on their title page (reproduced in the well-documented Divine Art booklet) as ‘for two violins and a bass’. This makes them, in effect, Trio Sonatas in the manner of Corelli – indeed, they all follow the four-movement pattern of Corelli’s Sonate da chiesa, slow-fast-slow-fast, though it is unlikely that they were intended for church performance. The ‘bass’ is performed here on the cello and chest organ, making for a very full sound. I’m on record as preferring the cleaner sound of violin and harpsichord, without cello, in Corelli’s Op.5 Sonatas (Naxos 8.557799 – see review) but the fuller sound works well in Avison’s Op.1, making the music sound much closer to the Concerti Grossi on the Ensemble’s other recordings.

The Op.1 Sonatas are in a form transmitted from Corelli via Geminiani. By the date of the Op.8 Sonatas, however, the music of Rameau was becoming influential in England and Avison specifically mentions ‘Scarlatti, Rameau and Carlo-Bach’ (i.e. CPE Bach) alongside Geminiani in his ‘Advertisement’ for the set. The notes in the booklet very reasonably speculate that Avison knew Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin en concerts: he certainly praises the French composer for his ‘spirited Science’. Once again, however, whatever the degree of Rameau’s influence, Avison is no slavish imitator. I hear the influence of Scarlatti and, perhaps, even a foretaste of Boccherini in Sonata No.3 (trs.6-7).

The title page of Op.8 (again, reproduced in the booklet) described the works as ‘for the harpsichord with accompanyments for two violins and a violoncello’ and he specified that the string parts ‘being intended for Assistants only ... ought no where to overpower the Harpsichord.’ This brings me to my one reservation concerning the new recording. Whatever Avison’s intentions – reinforced by the fact that the harpsichord part is capable of being performed alone – the ‘Assistant’ strings do sometimes prove intrusive on the recording. This may well be an inherent problem in the music itself rather than one to be laid at the door of the performers or the engineers. Without suggesting that multi-miking or other trickery should have been employed, I should have thought it possible for the harpsichord part to be brought out more fully on a recording.

It’s a minor criticism and it didn’t spoil my enjoyment unduly. Otherwise I have nothing but praise for everything on these CDs. Music, performance and recording – preferably with a slight volume reduction from your normal setting – all contribute to a most enjoyable experience and the booklet is a model of its kind. As on the earlier recordings, there are no rough edges to the sound of the period instruments employed; this is early music without tears. I look forward now to the appearance of the Op.5 and Op.7 sonatas.

-- Brian Wilson, ClassicsToday.com

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Avison: Sonatas Op 1 & Op 8 / Avison Ensemble
Divine Art Feb 2009
CD
$27.99

Geminiani: Violin Sonatas, Op. 1 / Ruhadze, Nepomnyashchaya

Brilliant Classics

$17.99 Apr 22, 2022

Igor Ruhadze’s Brilliant Classics recording of sonatas by Locatelli (94736) won warm praise from Gramophone. ‘The playing is elegantly supple, the string tone warm, and the architecture of individual movements thoughtfully worked out. All this makes for a pleasant mood and enjoyable listening. The more exuberant pieces are brilliantly and at times breathtakingly performed.’ With his latest Brilliant Classics album, the Russian Baroque-specialist violinist and director turns to another pivotal figure in Baroque-era violin culture, Francesco Geminiani.

Taught first by his violinist father and then by both Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti in Rome, Geminiani was already a leading figure in north Italian courts in his 20s, before he undertook the move to London that made his name and fortune. Geminiani dedicated the Op.1 Sonatas (1716) to Baron Johann Adolf Kielmansegge, his first London patron. According to Hawkins, Kielmansegge favored the composer by arranging a performance before the king in which Geminiani was accompanied on the harpsichord by Handel. With these sonatas, which clearly stem from Corelli, Geminiani presented himself to the public as Corelli's pupil. Many imitation editions followed the first printing, but the commentator Charles Burney maintained that only the composer himself could do them full justice. Apparently designed as a calling card for Geminiani’s talents as a violinist-composer, the Op.1 Sonatas still make strenuous technical but also expressive demands on any interpreter. Their genteel surface and polished dialogue between parts conceals an array of sophisticated contrasts between moods and demonstration of a violinist’s credentials as an artist as well as a technician.

For this new recording, Igor Ruhadze is joined not by his colleagues in the Violini Capricciosi ensemble but the Russian-born harpsichordist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya. Having pursued graduate studies with early-music luminaries such as Richard Egarr and Menno van Delft, she too evinces intense sympathy with Geminiani’s idiom.

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Geminiani: Violin Sonatas, Op. 1 / Ruhadze, Nepomnyashchaya
Brilliant Classics Apr 2022
CD
$17.99

Birth Of The String Quartet / Casal Quartet

Solo Musica

$20.99 Oct 01, 2009

This is a disc that deserves to be popular well beyond those already addicted to string quartets or to music of this period.

In listening to music, as in many other occupations, context is crucial. What might sound unremarkable in one context stands out in another. When recitals are given of Haydn Quartets it is too easy to think that the incredible sophistication of the later works means that the earlier examples can be regarded essentially as steps on the path towards that achievement. On this disc on the other hand the (relatively) early Haydn quartet stands out for its astonishing freedom, imagination and ingenuity in the use of the instruments and for the composer’s ability to extract all he can from his musical ideas. It is not that the other works are in any way poor or uninteresting but that the Haydn is the one that most clearly demonstrates the way in which writing for the medium would go.

To start at the beginning, however, the Sonata a Quattro by Alessandro Scarlatti is a pleasant piece, looking back to Corelli as well as forward to the Classical style embraced much more thoroughly by Sammartini. Wisely the booklet does not suggest that either of these works represents in itself “the birth of the string quartet”, but rather that this was a gradual process in which these are milestones, possibly even key milestones. Certainly the remaining quartets on the disc, by Mozart, Boccherini and Haydn are all early examples of the quartet in the form that has continued to the present. Perhaps form is not the best word to use, as it is not so much the structure of the music as the approach to the potential of a medium which can provide four individual voices or which can combine and contrast them in an apparently infinite number of ways.

The booklet notes suggest that Boccherini’s Op. 2 are the first real examples of the genre. On the basis of the work included here I would not argue with this. It is a very individual piece in only three movements, making the most of the minor tonality, very appealing melodically and full of imaginative ideas and textures. Although the Mozart is his earliest example of the medium it too is full of ideas and of variety and is seen to its best advantage in this company. As I have already indicated however, of all the works on the disc it is the Haydn that most clearly shows the way in which the medium would develop, as well as being of great beauty and effectiveness in itself.

All of this is made strikingly apparent by the superb performances by the Casal Quartet, who thoroughly understand the idiom of these works. Much is made in the booklet of their use of four instruments all by the seventeenth century maker Jacob Stainer. Certainly the reedy sound they produce suits the music and their playing style, probably best described as historically informed. The sheer beauty of sound of the Quartet as recorded here is in itself a major reason to purchase this disc.

The booklet’s notes – in German and English – nowhere explain whether the words “Volume 1” on the cover mean that there are to be more discs of quartets of this period from the Casal or merely more discs in general from them. Whilst I would welcome either, the former would be especially desirable as they clearly have a real sympathy with and understanding of this music. This is a disc that deserves to be popular well beyond those already addicted to string quartets or to music of this period.

- John Sheppard, MusicWeb International

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Birth Of The String Quartet / Casal Quartet
Solo Musica Oct 2009
CD
$20.99

Cilea-Longo: Chamber Music

Tactus

$21.99 Apr 03, 2026

The publication of the pieces included in this album aims to promote and disseminate a lesser-known chamber music repertoire among national and international concertgoers, a repertoire that undoubtedly deserves cultural and musical appreciation in every era for it's intrinsic originality. The two composers featured in this edition certainly need no introduction: Francesco Cilea, tied to the operatic tradition and bel canto, author of famous operas such as L'Arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur, and Alessandro Longo, the first to revise all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas, as well as the author of the well-known 12-volume Tecnica Pianistica. Longo was also the founder of the renowned Neapolitan musical journal L'Arte Pianistica. Gianfrancesco Federico on violin, Giuseppe Currao on clarinet, and Ugo Federico on piano guide us through these compositions, which are of great interest for understanding the Italian musical landscape of the early 20th century.

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Cilea-Longo: Chamber Music
Tactus Apr 2026
CD
$21.99

Mix & Match

Italian Harpsichordists on Guitar

Brilliant Classics

$12.99 Apr 30, 2026

The guitar is an expressive harpsichord declared the composer Claude Debussy after a concert by the Catalan guitarist, Miguel Llobet. The classic guitar has benefited, more than most other instruments, from arrangements of music of many genres. Renaissance and Baroque music especially suit the timbre and range of the guitar and keyboard music is ideal for playing on the guitar, often direct from the original score. Debussy's comment may be unjust to harpsichordists, but the expressive limits of the guitar may be said to outweigh those of the harpsichord. Girolamo Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara, one of the most musically stimulating cities in Italy at the end of the 1500s. He was organist of St Peter's, Rome and is said to have also been a magnificent harpsichordist. His influence spread not just through Italy, but also north of the Alps. Gaetano Greco (also Grieco) was born and worked in Naples, notably as Maestro di cappella of the Basilica in Naples from 1704-1720. He was an influential figure, numbering Domenico Scarlatti and Nicola Porpora among his pupils. If we know the name Domenico Alberti nowadays it is probably only through the eponymous bass figuration heard in many classical and pre-classical keyboard pieces. The lively Giga, from his collection of Sonatas Op.1 gives way to a more elegant Allegro from a Sonata da camera. As well as being a composer and a pupil of Pasquini, Domenico Zipoli trained for the priesthood as a Jesuit. He emigrated to Paraguay, where he aimed to complete his training, but died before he could be ordained. With Bernardo Pasquini we bridge the gap between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. Pasquini made a close study of Frescobaldi's work, especially his early Fantasie and employed some of these ideas in his variations. Moving forward 50 years from Pasquini, Benedetto Marcello proved to be a real polymath, with interests in politics, law and literature. He left behind a substantial number of sonatas, especially for cello and harpsichord. Like Marcello, Domenico Cimarosa's main musical output was vocal music, mainly operas, of which he wrote more than 80, admired by Mozart and performed by Haydn at Eszterhaza. Cimarosa's Sonatas are a refreshing leap into the early classical style, while acknowledging Domenico Scarlatti's influence. Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard output, 555 sonatas, dwarfs all the other composers on this recording. The similarity in range between the harpsichord and the guitar makes transcriptions relatively easy. Paradies was another composer whose music was valued by Mozart, as well as Clementi and Cramer, both keyboard virtuosi of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Played with great commitment and feeling for the style by Antonio de Innocentis, who also signs for the guitar arrangements.

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Italian Harpsichordists on Guitar
Brilliant Classics Apr 2026
CD
$12.99

Mix & Match

Stolzel: Quadri di Dresda e Bruxelles / Epoca Barocca

CPO

$18.99 Jan 29, 2013

STÖLZEL Quadri di Dresda e Bruxelles • Epoca Barocca • CPO 777 764-2 (51: 09)

Back in 24:1 and 24:5, Brian Robins passionately took up the cudgels of advocacy for Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690–1749) in interviews with conductor Ludger Rémy, undertaken in conjunction with releases of two CDs comprising the composer’s Weihnachtsoratorium . Apart from that, there is still only one entry for the composer in the Fanfare Archive, for a single quartet from a baroque anthology disc. Finding listings of CDs of his works available domestically presents a serious challenge, as the search function on the normally reliable ArkivMusic website has something seriously askew in his case, alternately producing either only one entry, or else a list of 100 entries that are mostly for J. S. Bach instead, with the handful of genuine Stölzel items randomly intermixed. (For a proper list, visit my favorite European website, jpc.de). Apart from the five releases that Rémy has produced for CPO, the only other Stölzel CDs I can find in print are another version of the Weihnachtsoratorium on the MDG label, a disc of chamber music on the Ambitus label, and now this new CPO release of the composer’s Quadro Sonatas.

The continued obscurity of Stölzel is, at first sight, difficult to understand, given the considerable reputation he enjoyed in his own lifetime. Born in the small town of Grünstädtel, southeast of Zwickau and near the northwestern border of the modern Czech Republic, he came from humble circumstances; his father, the son of a miner, was the local schoolteacher and church organist. Although his parents gave him some musical training, they did not want him to pursue a career in that field, and upon graduation from secondary school in Gera he obediently enrolled as a student in theology at the University of Leipzig. However, once there he was soon entirely absorbed into the city’s thriving musical scene, becoming a copyist for Melchior Hofmann, a pupil of Emanuel Kegel, and a devoted friend of Johann Friedrich Fasch. By the time he moved to Breslau in 1710 he was composing his first opera in addition to some instrumental music. Shortly afterward he moved on to Halle and then, after rejecting offers of employment from the courts at Gera and Zeitz, went to Italy to further his musical education, where he met among others Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Marcello, Johann David Heinichen, and Domenico Scarlatti. Late in 1714 he went back north to Prague, and—after a brief stay in Bayreuth in 1717, plus rejection of a lucrative offer of employment at the electoral court in Dresden, probably because his strong Protestant convictions made a post at a Catholic establishment uncongenial—returned to Gera to become the court music director. In November 1719 he assumed what would prove to be a lifelong position as Kapellmeister for the ducal court in Gotha. Highly esteemed by his contemporaries, he was, for example, admitted to membership in the Correspondierende Societät der musicalischen Wissenschaften (Corresponding School of Musical Science) of the renowned Leipzig scholar Lorenz Christoph Mizler (1711–1778) several years before the application of J. S. Bach was accepted. Mizler also composed a funerary ode to Stölzel upon the latter’s death. For his part, Bach paid a minor tribute to Stölzel by including a Partita in G Minor by him (with the addition of a trio of Bach’s own devising) in his Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

While Stölzel was a prolific composer of stage works, oratorios, masses, cantatas, and various instrumental works, little of his output has survived; for example, only 12 of his 85 known secular cantatas, and fragments from only 10 of his 442 sacred cantatas, are extant. At least 18 orchestral suites and over 90 vocal serenatas are completely lost. Part of this is due to the fact that his music quickly became unfashionable after his death; his successor at Gotha, Georg Benda, explicitly stated that he thought only select works of Stölzel’s compositional corpus were worth preserving, ones that he weeded out from what he termed “useless junk.” The rest was consigned to leaky attics, where depredations of weather and hungry rodents soon took their toll. In the case of the nine quadros presented on this CD, eight are taken from the musical archives in Dresden (assembled primarily by Georg Pisendel) and the ninth is preserved in an archive in Brussels. They are unusual not only for their inclusion of the horn, but also for using it as an equal partner at a time when, outside of music for hunting and martial occasions, it was usually assigned to a strictly subordinate role of reinforcing instrumental climaxes. The limitations of the valveless horn of that period necessitated that F Major be the predominant key of all of these quadros.

This is my first exposure to Stölzel’s music. Not having heard either the Weihnachtsoratorium or the Brockes-Passion that so roused the enthusiasm of my colleague Brian Robins, I have neither a basis nor desire to gainsay his highly positive judgment of those. However, I can say that, based on these works, I do not share his enthusiasm. Imagine, if you will, nine knock-offs of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 by a modestly talented pupil who lacks his master’s genius and artistry, and you will have the results presented here. They are pleasant and genial, and make for moderately enjoyable listening, but their commonplace thematic material prevents them from being anything more than that. I find no fault in either the sterling performances by Epoca Barocca, which presents these pieces in their best possible light, nor in CPO’s typically excellent recorded sound and lavish booklet notes. Based on this slender acquaintance, I am not about to make any general pronouncement on Stölzel’s merits as a whole; I will say that this disc is a purely discretionary rather than obligatory acquisition for the devotee of baroque instrumental music. If you choose to buy it, this disc will provide you with pleasure, but don’t expect it to bowl you over.

FANFARE: James A. Altena

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Stolzel: Quadri di Dresda e Bruxelles / Epoca Barocca
CPO Jan 2013
CD
$18.99

Scarlatti: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10

TACET Musikproduktion

$21.99 Jun 13, 2025

As all volumes of the complete recording of Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonatas are released on CD, all the booklets also contain texts on the music. Thomas Seedorf has accompanied the series as musicologist from the beginning. In most cases, Christoph Ullrich contributes his own thoughts. Both very different. In each volume, both have a theme that is particularly appropriate to the sonatas collected. In this case, Thomas Seedorf focuses on the music-historical categorisation of Scarlatti, which is particularly interesting in comparison to his two colleagues born in the same year, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Christoph Ullrich devotes himself to the 'being a child' of artists in general, that of Domenico Scarlatti in particular and his own. Both texts are very enriching. Not much more needs to be said about the music. Anyone who has listened to one of the 13 volumes already released knows about the delightful standard of Christoph Ullrich's Scarlatti. Enjoy listening!

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Scarlatti: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10
TACET Musikproduktion Jun 2025
CD
$21.99

Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Music and Arts Programs of America

$64.99 Jul 10, 2012

This is the second volume of our complete Scarlatti project - Volume I appeared on Music & Arts box set CD-1236 in April. New Classics [UK] wrote of that release: "Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas are single movements, mostly in binary form.... Some of them display harmonic audacity in their use of discords, and also unconventional modulations to remote keys. They combine pure joyous sounds with the taut rhythms of Spanish dance and the harmonic brilliance of his Italian heritage to a degree that places him among the greatest musicians of all time. This first volume of the recordings of all of Scarlatti's sonatas, eloquently played on the Bösendorfer Imperial piano by Carlo Grante, is a splendid and fascinating undertaking: a journey through shared cultural experience, as well as one that explores the subtle thought processes of a highly influential musical genius." " "Sales Inventory

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Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2
Music and Arts Programs of America Jul 2012
CD
$64.99

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 14 / Duanduan Hao

Naxos

$19.99 Jun 28, 2011

The son of Alessandro Scarlatti, who created a new school of opera in Naples, Domenico Scarlatti is particularly distinguished for his remarkable keyboard sonatas, of which some 555 are known. This significant addition to early 18th century keyboard repertoire was written for performance on the various keyboard instruments of the Spanish court, where he was employed for many years, and in all its variety has long provided a valuable repertoire for pianists. Chinese pianist Duanduan Hao won First Prize in the 2009 Shanghai International Piano Competition.

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Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 14 / Duanduan Hao
Naxos Jun 2011
CD
$19.99

Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas / Sudbin

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Mar 11, 2016

With the 2005 release of his first recording for BIS Records, Yevgeny Sudbin catapulted into the pages of the international music press. The disc was a Scarlatti recital that prompted reviewers worldwide to compare the then 24-year old pianist in the most flattering terms to Scarlatti experts such as Horowitz and Pletnev. It went on to receive a long list of distinctions, including an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, with an accompanying review which described it as ‘among the finest, certainly most enjoyable of all Scarlatti recitals’. Since then, Sudbin and BIS have enjoyed a highly successful collaboration, resulting in numerous acclaimed recordings of both solo programmes and concertos
To celebrate the past 10 years, a new Scarlatti recording seemed the obvious choice as the perfect anniversary present – to ourselves, and of course to all Sudbin fans and Scarlatti lovers. In short: Sudbin met up with Marion Schwebel, the recording producer with whom he has collaborated from the very beginning, for recording sessions in the silken acoustics of St George’s in Bristol. The results can be heard on this new disc: 18 sonatas selected from the total of 555 – a collection compared in Sudbin’s own liner notes to ‘a necklace which breaks, producing a resounding hail of glistening pearls, rolling around and bouncing about like precious bubbles of watery beauty.’

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Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas / Sudbin
BIS Mar 2016
SACD
$21.99

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 3 / Carlo Grante

Music and Arts Programs of America

$64.99 Nov 19, 2013

The first two volumes in this series -the only one ever recorded with the same pianist playing all works - met with high critical acclaim. Jonathan Woolf wrote in MusicWeb International "...beautifully played, and recorded, the first box in Music & Arts' series [CD-1236] is profoundly impressive." And Jed Distler wrote in Gramophone: "My review of Volume I praised Grante's thoughtful virtuosity and stylistic insights, together with his wide range of agogic stresses, articulations and embellishments, not to mention an acute sense of textural diversity an registral differentiation that have as much to do with Grante as with the vintage Bösendorfer grand used. These words apply even more to Volume 2 [CD-1242] where Grante's highly detaile fingerwork goes right to the heart of each sonata's character." " "Sales Inventory

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Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 3 / Carlo Grante
Music and Arts Programs of America Nov 2013
CD
$64.99

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 6 / Grante

Music and Arts Programs of America

$80.99 Jul 31, 2020

Carlo Grante, playing the Bösendorfer 280 Vienna Concert piano, presents the culmination of this monumental series; the first complete recording of Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas performed by one pianist. “One of the greatest works of our time.” (Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition) Carlo Grante is one of Italy’s foremost concert pianists. He has performed in such major venues as the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie’s Chamber Music Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall, Rome’s Santa Cecilia Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Dresden Semperoper, the Stuttgart Opera, Prague’s Rudolfinum, as well as at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in the US. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Dresden Staatskapelle, London’s Royal Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, Orchestra of St. Cecilia, MDR Leipzig, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Concertino Wien. The New York Met’s Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi wrote of him in 2015 that “Carlo Grante is one of the most astonishing artists I have ever known and worked with.” The principal critic of Vienna’s Die Presse dubbed him “a knight of the piano, without blemish and without fear.”

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Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 6 / Grante
Music and Arts Programs of America Jul 2020
CD
$80.99

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 18 / Monteiro

Naxos

$19.99 Apr 14, 2017

Whilst Alessandro Scarlatti was largely responsible for the development of early Neapolitan opera, his son Domenico composed a huge sequence of keyboard sonatas designed principally for the use of Infanta Maria Barbara, who became Queen of Spain in 1746. This treasure trove is one of the most important such collections of the 18th century, and continues to furnish the repertoire for pianists to this day. The present volume, performed by Sergio Monteiro, first prize winner at the 2003 Martha Argerich Piano Competition, includes a magnificently varied selection that embraces polyphony, guitar imitation, syncopated writing and an unusually wide keyboard range.

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Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 18 / Monteiro
Naxos Apr 2017
CD
$19.99

D. Scarlatti: The Complete Sonatas [MP3 CD Edition] / Lester
Nimbus Aug 1995
CD
$37.99

D. Scarlatti: Piano Sonatas / Yevgeny Sudbin

BIS

$21.99 Jan 01, 2005

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.

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D. Scarlatti: Piano Sonatas / Yevgeny Sudbin
BIS Jan 2005
CD
$21.99

D. Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 2 / Michael Lewin
Naxos Aug 1999
CD
$19.99

SCARLATTI: 100 SONATES POUR CLAVECIN

MIRARE

$33.99 Nov 03, 2023

What is so astonishing in Scarlatti is how external elements gradually permeate his language, make it develop, affect the very structure of the discourse, and give birth to a new way of thinking and seeing. For over 20 years, Pierre Hantai has selected and recorded 100 sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, published on 6 albums between 2002 and 2019. This box set brings them together for the greatest pleasure of harpsichord lovers.

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SCARLATTI: 100 SONATES POUR CLAVECIN
MIRARE Nov 2023
CD
$33.99

Scarlatti: Mandolin Sonatas

Arcana

$11.99 May 24, 2019

Scarlatti and the mandolin: this album provides a fascinating and unusual encounter between one of the most important composers of the baroque period and an instrument that originated in Naples and enjoyed great popularity throughout Europe, especially in Paris and in other European capitals during the 18th century. The Pizzicar Galante ensemble, founded in Paris in 2012 by mandolinist Anna Schivazappa and harpsichordist Fabio Antonio Falcone, reveals hidden aspects of these musical gems from the Italian Baroque. Drawing inspiration from a mysterious 18th-century French manuscript containing the first movement of Scarlatti's Sonata K 89, preceded by the indication 'Sonatina per mandolino e cimbalo', the musicians deliver a fresh and original interpretation of these works. The music is full of contrasts, rich in virtuoso passages, surprises and effects but also full of sweetness and humor, combined with a certain meditative melancholy. Specialized in the Italian repertoire for mandolin and basso continuo, Pizzicar Galante gives voice to different instrumental timbres. Among these, the charming, crystal-clear sound of an original 18th-century Neapolitan mandolin: an absolute rarity that makes this recording truly unique.

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Scarlatti: Mandolin Sonatas
Arcana May 2019
CD
$11.99

D. Scarlatti: Sonatas / Christian Zacharias
MDG Feb 2003
SACD
$24.99

Scarlatti: Opera omnia per tastiera, Vol. 1
Tactus Jan 2007
CD
$21.99

Bach: Sonatas, Partitas & Suites / Roed

Ondine

$18.99 Jun 08, 2018

This new Ondine release by Danish-born recorder player Bolette Roed includes the music of Johann Sebastian Bach arranged for solo recorder. The works were arranged by Frans Brüggen (1934–2014), famous Dutch recorder player and conductor who was of the greatest importance to the movement of the historically informed performance practice. With the exception of his Partita BWV 1013, Bach wrote relatively few works for the recorder. However, composers like Bach and Vivaldi did themselves arrange many of their works for different instruments. From this point of view the work of arranging Bach’s solo cello and violin pieces for recorder is something what Bach himself could have done, had he been inspired by a talented recorder player himself at the time of his compositions. For this recording several different recorders were being chosen. For the 11 movements written for the violin original keys were kept by changing the recorders accordingly. The cello suites are being played by one recorder only by transposing the original keys down a minor second. Bolette Roed is an award-winning artist who regularly performs with major Danish orchestras as well as with early music ensembles and baroque orchestras in various countries. Roed strives to extend the instrument’s repertoire beyond its established role in Early Music, towards new frontiers of improvisation, folk, and world music. She further aspires to adapt canonical classical works to the recorder and stays in constant dialogue with and commissions new works from today’s composers.

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Bach: Sonatas, Partitas & Suites / Roed
Ondine Jun 2018
CD
$18.99

SCARLATTI RECREATED: TRANSCRIPTIONS & HOMMAGES
MUSICAL CONCEPTS Sep 2013
CD
$16.36

Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas / Sofronitzky, Neuhaus, Richter

Profil

$18.99 Jun 09, 2015

Recorded between 1955 and 1961, Vladimir Sofronitsky's performances of the piano sonatas of Alexander Scriabin are collected in this twofer and are nearly complete, except for his partial recording of the Sonata No. 1 in F minor, of which only the final movement is provided, and the absence of the Piano Sonata No. 7. For his time, Sofronitsky was the leading Russian interpreter of Scriabin, and his interpretations were impressive for their brilliant virtuosity and volatile expressive power. Yet these dynamic performances ...range from murky, boxy sound to outright distortion, and the volume levels are severely out of balance, especially in the bonus 1951 recording of Heinrich Neuhaus playing the Sonata No. 1, an odd way to redress the missing Sofronitsky movements. Furthermore, Sviatoslav Richter's live 1964 performance of the Sonata No. 7 is included, which, with the Neuhaus, allows Profil to claim the set is complete. Because the value of these recordings is almost entirely in their historical significance, rather than for sound quality or ease of enjoyment, they are recommended for Scriabin specialists and fans of Sofronitsky who don't already have them, but few others. - All Music Guide

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Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas / Sofronitzky, Neuhaus, Richter
Profil Jun 2015
CD
$18.99

Castello: Sonate concertate 1629 / Wilson, Musica Fiata

CPO

$18.99 Apr 08, 2016

While little is known about Dario Castello (before 1600-1644), we are left with his Sonate concertate in stil moderno. This work by Castello, published in two books in 1621 and 1629 enjoyed great popularity, and were continually reprinted. Castello’s music is known for its virtuosic solos. The Musica Fiata performs these works with grandeur.

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Castello: Sonate concertate 1629 / Wilson, Musica Fiata
CPO Apr 2016
CD
$18.99

Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas no 1 & 2, etc / Kliegel, et al

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 30, 2007

SAINT-SAËNS Cello Sonatas: No. 1 in c; No. 2 in F. Suite for Cello and Piano • Maria Kliegel (vc); François-Joël Thiollier (pn) • NAXOS 8.557880 (77:32)

It has been previously noted that Saint-Saëns’s four major works for cello were composed more or less in tandem pairs. 1872–73 saw the twin births of the C-Minor Sonata, op. 32, and the A-Minor Concerto, op. 33. The composer was approaching 40 at the time; yet for a man who lived to 86, these may still be regarded as fairly early works. Not until nearly 30 years later did Saint-Saëns turn again to the cello, this time composing in reverse order the D-Minor Concerto, op. 119, in 1902, followed in 1905 by the Sonata in F Major, op. 123.

My only grumble about Jamie Walton’s Saint-Saëns CD (reviewed in 29:6) was that had he omitted “The Swan” movement from The Carnival of the Animals , there would have been just enough room on the disc to include the Second Sonata, thereby giving us all four of the composer’s major works for cello on a single disc. It turns out that in writing that review, I overlooked the even earlier, but hardly insignificant, 1862 Suite for Cello and Piano, op. 16, which, at 23 minutes’ duration, is even longer than the First Sonata and certainly qualifies as a “major” work.

With the current release, cellist Maria Kliegel and pianist François-Joël Thiollier fill in the blanks, offering us, along with the C-Minor Sonata, the earlier Suite and the later F-Major Sonata, both of which were absent from Walton’s entry. The juxtaposition of these works on the same disc affords us the opportunity to hear for ourselves the evolution, both professional and personal, of a man whose interior life may have been more complex than received opinion about him has otherwise led us to believe.

The five-movement Suite makes no pretense to a refracted antique or neo-Baroque style—as some of the composer’s early works do—despite note writer Keith Anderson’s assertion that its Prelude loosely resembles the arpeggio Praeludium of Bach’s G-Major Solo Cello Suite. Saint-Saëns’s Suite is an ardent, effusive romantic outpouring that has more in common with the young, though never youthful, Brahms than it has with anything from an earlier time.

The C-Minor Sonata, though coming 10 years after the Suite, is all surface Sturm und Drang somewhat reminiscent of Mendelssohn. It was works such as this that earned Saint-Saëns his reputation as an arch-conservative in thrall to German models and aesthetics.

The F-Major Sonata, written when he was 70, has clearly evolved away from the composer’s earlier, more immediately recognizable profile. Though still adhering to the principles of sonata form, the piece has about it a more through-composed feeling that is carried forward by a gorgeous rippling piano part rather in the manner of the composer’s own student, Fauré. More significant, however, is the genuine expressiveness and depth of the music, which clearly belie the notion that Saint-Saëns was but an extremely gifted tunesmith and facile craftsman with an uncanny instinct for writing music devoid of any meaningful substance.

Maria Kliegel can be heard in a wide range of repertoire that she has recorded for Naxos; with over 50 entries in their catalog, she is perhaps the company’s leading “stable” cellist, a term that unfortunately carries certain uncomplimentary connotations. Be assured that in Kliegel’s case they are not deserved, for she is a fantastic player with solid technique, spot-on intonation, and robust tone, which she projects with a great deal of confidence and authority. If her delivery is not quite as smooth and refined as that of the aforementioned Jamie Walton, my sense is that she wants us to perceive Saint-Saëns as both more serious and more substantive than he is often taken to be.

François-Joël Thiollier has also recorded extensively for Naxos, having made a specialty of the French piano repertoire. His partnering with Kliegel is a natural. For the excellent performances, fine sound, budget price, and smart programming, I’m inclined to call this disc indispensable for lovers of chamber music for cello and piano.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas no 1 & 2, etc / Kliegel, et al
Naxos Jan 2007
CD
$19.99