Customer Reviews

Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 7

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Over the last 25 years of his long life, Domenico Scarlatti (1685--1757) composed over 550 short sonatas for keyboard (harpsichord) to the delight of innumerable music lovers since his time. Naxos is in the process of issuing a set of the complete Scarlatti sonatas on the piano, with each the works on each CD performed by a different pianist. (Most of the pianists, to date, are not specialists in early music.) I will always prefer this music on the harpsichord although I play Scarlatti myself on the piano. Naxos's approach has the virtue of allowing the listener to hear a great many different musical approaches to Scarlatti. In addition, because each CD is part of a projected complete set of the sonatas, they feature a mix of works, rather than the handful of pieces that tend to get selected for anthologies. There is a great deal of music to be explored even by those familiar with Scarlatti. These works are a never-ending source of joy.

Volume 7 of the Naxos series features the young Russian pianist, Konstantin Scherbakov. Sherbakov's considerable recorded output includes performances on Liszt's transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies and of the music of Godowsky. But to me he is best-known for his excellent performance of Shostakovich's "24 Preludes and Fugues" opus 87 which I reviewed on this site some time ago. I described his playing there as "quiet, restrained and thoughtful" -- a feeling shared by most of the Amazon reviewers, and I think this description fits his performance of Scarlatti on this CD as well.

Scherbakov's playing seems subdued and introspective on this disk with little of the showiness that Scarlatti's music frequently invites. His playing is romantic in character and in tempo and in its use of the pedal. Scherbakov uses to the full the dynamics of the piano (which are unavailable on the harpsichord) and the tone of the instrument. His phrasing is distinct as between smooth legato passages and stacatto passages. As my good Amazon friend, Scott Morrison points out, Scherbakov uses a very controlled touch on these pieces with the left hand frequently playing noticeably softer than the right. (Listen to tracks 3 and 5 for examples.)

This CD consists of 16 sonatas. Unlike other CD's in this series I have heard, most of the works were unfamiliar to me. Becoming familiar with the range of his works is one of the pleasures of listening to Scarlatti. The works included tend to come from the softer, more lyrical side of Scarlatti without pyrotechnics. Of the sixteen sonatas, only three are in a minor key. The sonatas range from the early sonata in F major, K. 17 to the late sonata in F major K. 542, but most of the works tend to be in the K. 2,3, or 4 hundreds.

I enjoyed greatly the sonata in F. K.542 which, as noted, is the latest sonata on the CD. This is a quiet, meditiative work with lovely trills and bell-like passages. It is also the longest work on this CD. I also particularly liked the sonata in A major K. 500 which features shimmering legato passages in sixths. The final work on the CD, the sonata in D major, K. 479, was familiar to me. This is a lively work with many contrasting phrases and themes of different moods.

The program notes prepared by Keith Anderson are an added attraction to the Naxos series. Each volume comes with a good short description of each work, and each adds some information about the sonatas and about Scarlatti for the interested listener. Thus, this volume includes a discussion of the manner in which Scarlatti's works were published during his lifetime and the discussion is integrated with the treatment of the individual sonatas.

This CD will appeal to listeners who love or who want to get to love the music of Scarlatti.

Hailed at a Lucerne Festival as a modern Rachmaninov and with an equally phenomenal piano technique, Konstantin Scherbakov gives his attention here to some of the sparer, gently rustling keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti. Indeed, some of the sonatas he has chosen (for example K 291) are two-part writing of the simplest - at least he makes it sound so. Dynamics are skillfully shaded and contrasted, providing more light and shade than would be possible if the instrument were a harpsichord.

All the sonatas in this 64 minute CD are in binary form (comprised of two halves). Scherbakov always repeats the first halves but not always the second halves. As with earlier volumes in this Naxos series, the Kirkpatrick pairing of sonatas has been abandoned, a practice I do not regret. Scherbakov has selected many Scarlatti sonatas new to my own extensive CD collection, several marked andante being mixed with the greater proportion of fast moving pieces.

There's hours of fascination here, for a payment of very few dollars.

Does Scherbakov suppress some bass notes? Sure, but always as part of a musical intent. The only time I found myself disagreeing was in K 542--that's because he loses the dialog I hear. But that's OK--the beauty is that Scherbakov does have ideas and brings them out with clarity and wit. Yeah, I don't know who chooses what gets played on these volumes, but Scherbakov plays a greater proportion of lesser-known sonatas than others in this series. I can't recall ever hearing a performance of K 360--and it's a real gem! He does a boffo job on one of the few well-known sonatas that he plays, K 291 (and on this one, it's the upper part that gets subdued a bit). This is fine piano playing that exploits dynamics to bring out lines and express phrases without bizarre accents, and well-recorded, too.

I had to smile at another reviewer's concern that because the series as a whole did not respect the grouping by Kirkpatrick or Pestelli, there might be a few "loose ends" towards the end of the 555-sonata project. Since there's no evidence that Domenico Scarlatti had anything to do with the pairings or overall order in the two main sources, we started off with 525 loose ends! I like Naxos for not pretending otherwise.

Naxos's series that will eventually comprise all of the Scarlatti keyboard sonatas on the piano is featuring a different pianist for each volume. With Volume 7 we reach the work of one of Naxos's house pianists--I almost feel it's a dismissal to call him that, which is not what I intend; I think he's a wonderful pianist--and already this new release has caused some minor controversy among Scarlatti mavens. One critic I know has taken Scherbakov to task for muting his left hand in these performances. In another forum I have discussed this with him and will here explain why I like what he has done.

First of all, Scherbakov does not simply reduce the volume of his left hand across the board. His left hand tends to play out in those passages where there is an important contrapuntal voice to get across. But in those passages where the left hand is primarily providing harmonic underpinning--and this tends primarily to be in the slower, softer sonatas--he does indeed hold back a bit, although it also needs to be said that this is not just a generic softening, but playing that includes sensitive phrasing and dynamic control as well. Overall, it is true, Scherbakov takes a very pianistic approach to these works and, further, he tends to use rather more romantic dynamics and phrasings that a harpsichordist or some other pianists would use. From my point of view this is appropriate and attractive, but of course that's a matter of differing tastes.

I don't know who has decided which sonatas will go on which pianists's CD, but they are certainly mixed and matched. In general the pattern is slow-fast-slow-fast as well as coupling sonatas that are either in the same key or in related major/minor keys, but not in the usual Longo, Kirkpatrick or Pestelli couplings. This is fine by me. It's rather like what Graham Johnson did when he arranged his huge traversal, on Hyperion, of all the Schubert songs. I wonder if when we get to the end of this mammoth undertaking there will, as in Johnson's arrangement, some tag ends that don't exactly match each other. No matter. This is a fine disc played by a virtuosic pianist and I find it eminently satisfying, if not quite up to the very finest Scarlatti playing available (Horowitz, Weissenberg, Babayan et al.).

TT=64:03

Scott Morrison

Scarlatti's music, almost all in this one-movement sonata form, is miraculous. Shostakovitch did instrumental arrangements of a handful of the Scarlatti sonatas, and this seventeenth-century music in these twentieth-century arrangements sounds as if Shostakovitch had composed them himself.

I appreciate the sonatas most on piano because the music is varied and dramatic. That drama demands powers of the piano-forte, and NAXOS's selection of pianists is excellent. They reveal the creative intricacy of the music.

NAXOS is doing us all a great favor by producing a complete set of the 550+/- sonatas. I have the complete set up-to-date, and I warmly recommend them all.

This Volume Seven in the Naxos Scarlatti series has received high praise from everyone, both the professional reviewers and Amazon's reviews from customers.

I beg to disagree.

To begin with - the music. Scarlatti, like so many composers of his era churned out an enormous amount of music. It varies, both in style - all for the good - and in quality, which latter is only to be expected when you are dealing with - as is the case with the sonatas - over five hundred compositions. On this Cd we have 16 Sonatas, and you can be sure that when Saint Peter asked Domenico for a sampling of his wares, maybe a sonata or two?, he didn't grab any from this bunch! Unless you have money to burn or MUST have every sonata I see no reason to add this to a collection, though perhaps a few of the sonatas might be purchased separately.

So that's one ding and why one star is deducted.

The performance itself, by Scherbakov, lacks much in the way of imagination. Some of this, to be just, can be blamed on the music. But I found his approach, reserved, very clean, with no real loud fortes, rather boring. I also didn't sense any deep sympathies with the music's many Spanish elements. If the selections had been more familiar ones I think these lackings would have been more readily apparent.

Scarlatti requires - above all else - IMAGINATION! And I'm sorry, but when Scarlatti's sonatas are played as Scherbakov plays them I feel slightly cheated.

So another ding - and another star lost.

The notes are okay, but the comments on the individual sonatas fall far short.

More and more I continue to find the 2004 Bis recording of Sudbin's Scarlatti performances a very exalted benchmark for other pianists to approach. (I'm not going to mix fruits here and talk about Valenti and all the other harpsichord versions. If you have never heard Scarlatti's music played on the harpsichord forget this Naxos issue and buy instead one of the best of the harpsichord versions.) But on the piano I think Sudbin is the current starting point. Yes, he's very Romantic, a quality that appalls any number of Baroque people. But the more I listen to this music, the more I think the composer was a decided mannerist - and why shouldn't he be - it's the high Baroque!

Sudbin doesn't always hit a home run in every piece, but there's still plenty that's real gold, and in addition he writes sensational notes that evoke the visuals. He (and I) prefer our Scarlatti with the full orchestral effects well served. Listening to Sudbin immediately following Scherbakov is quite an eye-opener - or in this case, earfull! Suddenly the music comes bursting alive, filled with all the sights and sound of Spain. That's how it should be. And though Scarlatti's sonatas cover far more than impressionistic effects of the locals, any pianist taking on his music must get the Spanish color right above all. Scarlatti's music has to the fullest measure personality, his best pieces teem with human activity and the sounds of daily life. Unless you can convey that, you're not doing Scarlatti anything remotely like justice.

For the Sudbin Cd, which also receives a beter sounding piano recording than the Naxos, you can find it here on Amazon,
Scarlatti: Piano Sonatas

Yes, it costs twice as much, but it's worth it.

And just how many Scarlatti Cds will be needed for Naxos to complete the set of some 546 or so? Thirty, maybe thirty-four? That's quite an outlay in funds, especially so when you realize that the Naxos performances often do not equal better versions found elsewhere.

I agree totally with the reviewer who said that the bunch of the sonatas recorded on this CD would not make it into the Pantheon of world music. Have to add, though, the way they are played!! On the second thought, having read an idiotic rave review from Mr. Jed Distler I have to warn: I can hardly imagine a Scarlatti CD which is more boring than Scherbakov's. The pianist has absolutely no fantasy, no sense of style, no TALENT and no IDEAS! To compare this CD with Pletnev, Horowitz, Michelangeli is a travesty, is the same as to compare apples and oranges. Only someone as musically illiterate as Mr. Distler can do that. Or may be he was handsomely rewarded, one never knows...then there are no questions. In a word, this CD is boring as hell and it sounds like Scarlatti was a mediocre composer which he was not. Well, for Naxos, it is ok, since it is a repertoire label and does not care about high quality artists or hi end recording techniques. As they say, the price is right: Scherbakov is worth Naxos and vice versa. If you spent $6-7 you can use it as a fancy toaster to put a cheap glass of wine on.