Customer Reviews

Scarlatti: The Keyboard Sonatas [Box Set]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recent re-release of Scott Ross's complete recordings of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas is truly a great a accomplishment. The 34 CDs contain all 555 sonatas. The vast majority are played by Ross on the harpsichord, or harpsichord's I should say. Four different harpsichords were used, one Italian and three French. While various groups of Sonatas might sound a bit different it doesn't take away from the experience at all.

And what an experience it is. Ross's harpsichord playing is bright and lively when required, relaxed and subdued at other times. While it's hard to imagine that Ross was able to become intimately familiar with 555 sonatas over the year it took to record them, his performances do not show any signs of boredom. The sonatas are overall focused and well performed.

In addition to the hundreds of harpsichord sonatas, there are also recordings of Scarlatti's five sonatas with string and woodwing accompaniment as well as his three organ sonatas. All keyboard parts are played by Ross.

The packaging of this set is very compact. Each CD is in a thick paper cover, the whole of the set in a single box. There is also a 255 page booklet that contains a short description of nearly every sonata. Additionally there is an interview with Ross from 1986.

This is a wonderful set for any fan of Scarlatti and Ross. And at the price, it would even be worth it for anyone who enjoys Baroque harpsichord music but isn't familiar with Scarlatti. I highly recommend this set.

I've been a Scarlatti fan since I discovered the Ralph Kirkpatrick recordings on Columbia when I was in high school--some 40 years ago. Over the years I have played some of them on the piano and collected numerous recordings, performed on both harpsichord and piano. I first purchased Scott Ross's complete collection after sampling the 3-CD Scarlatti Anthologie and being pleased with what I heard. After listening to about a third of the 34 CDs on which the 555 sonatas are recorded I can say that Scott Ross's performances equal or exceed anything I've heard from any other performer on harpsichord. There are recordings by other performers I rate very highly--Wanda Landowska's characterful pre-WW II recordings and Andras Schiff's superb piano recordings of the sonatas come to mind--but Scott Ross has it all. Meticulous accuracy, a truly engaging sense of rhythm--so critical in bringing out the character of the sonatas, a superb sense of the Spanish idiom Scarlatti uses, elegant ornamentaion, a masterful selection of stops, and the wonderful recorded harpsichord sound all make this set a thoroughly satisfying musical experience for the Scarlatti lover. Bringing all of this quality to the formidable task of recording all of Scarlatti's 555 sonatas is a tremendous achievement and a true service to the music loving public. In addition to the pleasure of having such a treasure trove of great Scarlatti performances, the complete collection has afforded me the oppotunity to discover many elegant gems among Scarlatt's lesser known sonatas--the kind that stay in my head days after hearing them. That Ross died at the relatively early age of 38 was a real loss. If you're a Scarlatti fan, treat yourself to this complete collection. You won't be disappointed.

Domenico Scarlatti is to 18th century keyboard music as to what Chopin was to 19th century piano; both were geniuses who composed for virtually one instrument, Chopin for the piano and Scarlatti for the harpsichord. However unlike Chopin Scarlatti never *quite* became as much of a household word as Chopin. Which is a pity as I consider him one of the best three composers of keyboard music ever.

As for the music itself, well that's always a problem with a written review. How do you describe something as subjective and intangible as music? Without wanting to look impressive or pretentious by giving obscure musical terminology I'll at least assume the reader knows the difference between major and minor keys. Major keys tend to sound happy and minor keys tend to sound sad. I'd estimate roughly 80% of Scarlattis work is in major keys so he's far from a brooding sourpuss. Most of his sonatas are exhilarating to listen to, not just for the technical accomplshment but for the sense of joy, even triumph his music can evoke. The 555 sonatas amply demonstrate his astonising gift for melody.

However this is not really music to relax too, unlike say Erik Satie. The notes come thick and fast, and even the rarer melancholic sonatas he wrote are still not exactly soothing. That is not meant as a criticism, but I thought it worth mentioning in case you wanted this set to "chill out" too!

Yes the set is expensive. If you want just to sample Scarlatti then there are probably wiser buys on Amazon. But if you get hooked on Scarlatti then this set is going to be hard to resist.

Even to "review" Scott Ross's 34 CD set from Warner (now in danger of being out of print)seems presumptuous. This feat, so stunning in every way, makes a mere Michael Phelps just another Guiness Book of Records item. What do a few more seconds of invisible swimming achievement have to offer me? Nothing.

I know well and own recordings of these amazing harpsichord sonatas by Landowska, Kirkpatrick, Valenti, Pinnock, Kipnis, Belder and others. All have their virtues. But Ross's mastering of these 500 plus sonatas in a year or so, to produce non-mechanical, far from routine run-throughs, is sui generis. Ross seems influenced by Valenti, particularly, but retains an expressiveness and vitality that even Valenti began to lose as his old Westminster LPs were being spewed out.

Even to "recommend" this set seems a bit ridiculous, like "recommending" the Grand Canyon.

Harold Fromm

I can't imagine anyone regretting purchase of this set. Not only is it a remarkable bargain, it is technically and musically of the highest caliber.

I have been collecting Scarlatti recordings for 30 years. It's hard to think of another composer whose works allow for so much variation in interpretation. A Scarlatti sonata that seems hum-drum when played by performer X can be absolutely hair-raisingly electrifying when played by performer Y. Five or even ten different performances of some of these 555 would not be too much.

Scott Ross's traversal of all 555 sonatas-- played on several different harpsichords, all excellent instruments (with just a few sonatas played in ensemble or on an organ, in accordance with the composer's apparent intentions) -- is the most exciting addition I have ever made to my collection. It should be the core of any collection of Scarlatti recordings. It is now certainly the core of mine.

Besides the obvious advantage of completeness, the greater miracle of these discs is that Ross's interpretations are consistently fine. Never show-offy (some people play some of these so fast you can't believe it -- but also so fast you miss a lot of the fine detail that makes Scarlatti so rewarding), Ross is also never plodding. Some of these pieces benefit enormously from being played a bit slower than virtuosi tend to take them. However, in Scarlatti speed and precision count -- and Ross has all you could ask for.

I have fine piano versions in my collection that bring me great pleasure, but on the whole I prefer my Scarlatti via the thinner but cleaner sonorities of the harpsichord, especially in the bass register. Thank heaven that Ross took such care to choose instruments that allowed him to exhibit the full delights of harpsichord timbre!

Finally, the producers should be thanked for including 150 pages (!) of commentary in English (though you will need your best eyeglasses to read these notes, which are printed in tiny -- but fortunately crisp -- letters). Besides providing a general guide to various blocks of sonatas, composed in various periods in the composer's life, the booklet includes a cogent sentence or two about absolutely every piece!

The interview and biographical material on Scott Ross, a fine artist who died much too young (and of whom I had not previously heard), is also surprisingly gripping.

What an accomplishment this was! Ross died not long after completing these performances, apparently aware that he had done a fine thing. This magical and delightful set is a fitting monument to a considerable interpretive talent. If only Ross were still with us and we could see him play these live!

This 34 CD set is one of the gems of my collection. Originally I intended to write a longish essay about Scott Ross and his approach to Scarlatti, but having read Harold Fromm's review above I realise now that even to recommend this seems a bit risky - just as 'recommending' Schnabel or Backhaus's sets of Beethoven sonatas or Edwin Fischer or Wanda Landowska's sets of the WTC I-II. So I''ll confine myself to a few descriptive statements.
1) From three great harpsichord players - Wanda Landowska, Scott Ross and Kenneth Gilbert - Landowska sells best, while Ross and Gilbert's CDs are constantly removed from the catalogue. This item happily is not, since no market alternative to it existed up to 2008. I have not listened to Belder (2008), but even if this new variant is excellent, buy Scott Ross now before they remove it.
2) Scott R. was a great virtuoso - sometimes he seems to have three hands or more. But his playing is very natural - he never emphasised his extraordinary technical abilities there, where he found it superfluous. When he was asked to tell his favourite Scarlatti sonata, he chose K. 208 - a slow non-virtuosic piece.
3) People who claim that they are bored by this set belong to one of the two categories. The most honest ones admit that they don't like motoric keyboard music at all - be it piano or harpsichord - if it does not convey a 'spiritual message' or is not combined with a literary programme. Another group of Scott's detractors pretend that they like Domenico Scarlatti but want him salted, peppered or sugared: in fact, they desire after a mannered and pretentious style a la Clara Haskil - but on a period instrument.
If you belong to one of the categories of listeners mentioned above in point 3), don't buy this set. Otherwise, it is an easy choice.

This set is a major investment, but one that is well worth making. It contains 34 CDs of truly wonderful music, superbly played. Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas form a remarkable and very rewarding body of work and they are immensely varied - passionate, serene, humorous... every mood or emotion you could think of is here somewhere. I never tire of them, and always find something fresh and new when I listen to them.

You do need to like the harpsichord if you're going to buy this set. I certainly do, and especially when it is played as well as this. These recordings by Ross are regarded as landmarks by many, and I wouldn't argue with that. His playing is technically brilliant, and he brings out all the variety in these amazing pieces. What also shines through is his sheer love for the music - every single sonata is played as though it really means something and he makes this monumental compendium a pleasure from start to finish.

I cannot recommend this set too highly. I have owned and loved the original Erato discs for years and still play them regularly and with immense pleasure. It is a set to last a lifetime and if you have any interest in baroque music or the keyboard in general, I urge you to give it a try.

Nothing much to add to what the other reviews have already said.Scott Ross was the first harpsichordist to record all of Scarlatti's sonatas and his performances remain unsurpassed.I have gave 4 stars because sometimes the engineers have miked the harpsichord rather too closely but
Scott's playing is of 5 star quality.Pieter Jan Belder's complete set on Brilliant Classics is also a 5 star performance although he is sometimes recorded with too much reverb.

Overall you really can't go wrong with either version and both will give hours of listening pleasure.

This is one of the greatest recordings ever made. The music is of course endlessly inventive, and Ross's technically perfect execution and almost metronomically steady rhythm, while never losing the Iberian, flamenco-like fireworks of these sonatas, also makes clear that they are Baroque compositions, carefully structured and intellectually interesting at almost every moment. The performance is thus a revelation.

I will say that, yes, we classical music listeners get a little price gouged.

Despite that, this is a great recording of a complex, satisfying, and unique work. I recommend it to you.