Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 9 / Nicolosi
Naxos
CD
$19.99
May 27, 2008
D. SCARLATTI Keyboard Sonatas: K 52; K 77; K 79; K 139; K 170; K 176; K 277; K 344; K 340; K 388; K 398; K 456 • Francesco Nicolosi (pn) • NAXOS 8.570368 (61:02)
Scarlatti fans are many, and growing in number. Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz was in great part responsible for a reevaluation of the composer’s works, frequently playing Scarlatti sonatas in his recitals. His recordings of a few of these sonatas are revered by pianists and melomanes alike, and no wonder about it. He was supremely aware of the Italian master’s genius in portraying different emotions and in eschewing any of the dictates of style, writing music that sparkles with cleverness and emotion and remains almost unclassifiable in terms of style or school.
Since then, the early-music crowd took possession of these works, and Scarlatti’s œuvre has occupied its rightful place among the harpsichordists. It appeals to anyone who plays a keyboard instrument, as an almost didactic tool: each sonata presents a new exciting problem, a feature that serves to improve some necessary aspect of technical or musical abilities. It also inspires fanatical discussions: staunch defenders of period instruments have fits at hearing a single Scarlatti phrase on a piano, pianists often declare that “had Scarlatti known the modern piano, he would have abandoned the harpsichord” (a pretty lame argument, if you ask me).
Fashions come and go, but Scarlatti remains a hit with keyboard-players, a challenge to be faced, a citadel to be conquered. Options abound. On the harpsichord, my favorites are many, and run from the aggressively elegant Pierre Hantaï (for Mirare), to the variegated approach of Kenneth Weiss (for Satirino), with bows to brutally succinct Nicolau de Figueiredo (Clássicos), and to the reliability of Richard Lester (Nimbus).
There are the pianists who follow the example set by Horowitz, who had an extraordinarily powerful vision of this meridional music, at the same time full of passion and precision. There are those who play the sonatas with Mozartean delicateness (Soyen Lee, for example, for Naxos), subtle sobriety, as Fabio Grasso does (Euterp), and even exuberant intelligence, as my all-time favorite Mikhail Pletnev. From this small list, one can get an idea of the very contrasting stances that find defenders among Scarlatti fans. It is reasonable to state that there is a Scarlatti for absolutely every taste in the world.
The present CD, by Francesco Nicolosi, will thus find its share of admirers, and an equally large number of detractors, for the very same characteristic that the first group will love and the second one will hate. It presents a very pianistic approach, one that makes the pieces sound like Chopin nocturnes. Curiously, the sonatas that are readily identifiable as Baroque are the more “Bachian” ones (like K 52), perhaps because we are already so used to hearing “romantic” versions of Bach. There is a lot of pedaling and ample use of rubato, articulations are softened, and the twisted dissonances are underplayed, partly because the right hand gets more emphasis than the left. Nicolosi’s fluent technique itself somehow diminishes the impact of the more dramatic sonatas: he plays with the easy assurance of a marathon runner quickening his step to catch a bus on a Sunday afternoon. Nothing wrong about that, granted. This is still sensitive playing that takes advantage of Scarlatti’s many subtleties and highlights the stunning quality of the compositions. But the enormous scope of the composer’s imagination gets attenuated, and the resulting versions seem old-fashioned. In the end, this CD says more about Nicolosi and the piano than about Scarlatti and his music.
For those who know Scarlatti and know they like it on the piano, this disc is definitely recommended, as well as for fans of Romantic music who are seeking a first encounter with the music of the 18th century. For those who want a pianist’s sound, but a harpsichordist’s conception, or even a truly personal vision of Scarlatti, this CD will fail to hit the mark.
FANFARE: Laura Rónai
