Customer Reviews

Scarlatti: Sonaten

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw the performance of these pieces at the beautiful, now closed, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, Ca. After having seen Mr. P several other times with mixed feelings due to his idiosyncratic approach at his young age, and knowing of Horowitz's splendid Scarlati, I was astounded by the professional and gorgeous approach he took to this music in live performance. While somewhat different in approach to Mr. H, it is perfect in all its own ways. It was unforgettable, and I have been to many piano recitals. The recording reproduces the performance as well as one could wish for and brings back some great memories.

Richard Jacobson

Domenico Scarlatti and Ivo Pogorelich share much in common, even to the kind of upbringing they had. Both lived in a Mediterranean coastal community that was 'off the beaten path', as it were. Scarlatti was from Naples (at a time when it was not a major city), and Pogorelich is from Dubrovnik along the Croatian coasts. Thus it might seem like a natural to have the pairing of Pogorelich playing these pieces by Scarlatti.

Domenico Scarlatti was son of Alessandro Scarlatti, also a noted Baroque composer. Domenico was composer of well over 500 sonatas, most of which were not published in his lifetime. His career was spent largely in Portugal and Spain, a bit far from the centre of gravity of the Baroque era, and so he is often overlooked; his father's compositions are better known in many ways, also, which adds to his being overshadowed. However, there is a unique power and vitality to the composition of Domenico, which made his music very popular. However, according to one commentator, ' The sonatas' technical difficulties have often caused them to be regarded unjustly as mere studies in virtuosity, and modern pianoforte technique owes much to their influence. They display a harmonic audacity, and adventurous use of modulation (changing from one key to another), a freshness and variety of invention and a vigorous intellectuality in thematic and structural terms which belies their "popular" tone and their apparently careless appearance on the page.'

Ivo Pogorelich is a popular musician in the musical sense as well as in the success of his career. He is also very skilled in interpreting the kind of technical requirements as well as the spirit of the compositions of a composer like Scarlatti. Pogorelich was educated in Moscow, and won many competitions, but perhaps his elimination in the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw made him most famous (one judge quit in protest that he was eliminated in the third round). Pogorelich continues to work on behalf of music education, being named a UNESCO ambassador of goodwill for musical enterprises.

Pogorelich's playing on this disc is a wonderful performance, technically proficient and energetic in expression.

Pogorelich's rendition of fifteen or so of the Master's sonatas is nothing short of orgasmic; this CD is a big-hearted, rowdy, full-throated, plates-filled, glasses-overflowing, week-long Mediterranean romp, and we are all invited. Pogorelich's sound is robust in the "riotous" sonatas, and crystalline and delicate in the "sensual" ones. His technique is...oh, goodness! I mean this man has the incredible ability to, within a sixteen-note, shift from a full-throttle fortissimo to a most delicate pianissimo; any pianist can tell you: that ain't easy. Pogorelich's ability to "shade" the voices and "nuance" a phrase is unmatched. I cannot recommend this recording too highly; it is absolutely astonishing. The control that Pogorelich has over the instrument is spectacular, and his musicianship flawless, though I realize that not few would violently disagree with my assessment of his musicianship.
Might I also suggest two other performer's delightful recordings of Scarlatti's (The Master) sonatas, both of which I might happily add are available through Amazon.com; namely those of: Dubravka Tomsic, and Eteri Andjaparidze. One caveat however, while both Tomsic and Andjaparidze are brilliant technicians, as far as pure joy and flare are concerned Tomsic comes closer to Pogorelich's lofty heights than does Eteri. Nevertheless those are two additionally brilliant recordings. I haven't heard Horowitz's renditions in quite some time so I do not feel qualified to speak as to their quality, only to say that I seem to remember that they seemed a bit lifeless when I heard them last.
N.B. For those like me who are hard-core Scarlatti fans, one more suggestion: try to catch the Shostakovich's orchestration for wind ensemble, a quintet if I am not mistaken, of few of The Masters sonatas; they are quite charming and, in typical Shostakovich fashion, quite witty.

Pogorelich really exploits the loud-soft and gradations between them in this very idiomatic piano recording. The selection is a little limited--maybe too many from the Essercizi? But he plays them so well! Everyone does K 1, but Pogorelich makes it sound like music (unlike Tomsic or Pletnev). K 8 sounds like a tragic funeral march for 3-legged mortally wounded--not a very attractive description, but I mean he gets that gothic horror. And K 450 is perfect--no labor at all to the difficult trills.

I do complain a little of the repetitions that are mostly exact.
A little variation would be nice. Still, this is the album I'd be most likely to play for a Scarlatti virgin in hopes of seduction!

Ivo Pogorelich's Scarlatti CD is very fine. He has an extremely light touch in this music, very reminiscent of Horowitz (Horowitz being the standard for Scarlatti on piano against whom all others are measured).

His program combines well and less known Scarlatti sonatas, with a slight emphasis on the earlier works.

One of the best all Scarlatti piano sonata CDs I know, along with Horowitz (Sony), Pletnev (Virgin), Maria Tipo (EMI Classics), and Andjaparidze (Naxos).

Very good sound.

Pogorelich's Scarlatti is unsurpassed. His interpretation of the Andante from Sonata in B Minor K. 87 is the most lyrical, moving you will hear. Scarlatti is an underappreciated genius, and in the hands of Pogorelich, his music is timeless.

I really think Pogorelich provides a definitive interpretation to the Scarlatti Sonatas. I have talked to many people about this, and as a concert pianist I can say that he plays the pieces a little fast, however that is the way Scarlatti intended most of them. He has a very crisp, light touch which really make the colour of Scarlatti come alive.

Pletnev's Scarlatti is merely dull and correct. Pogorelich's Scarlatti glitters with grace, freshness, intensity, joy. He is sensitive, mature, yet powerful, exhilarating without exaggeration. I appreciate this delightful CD, although I do not like Scarlatti nor any baroque composer. I like Pogorelich's Chopin Four Scherzi as well as his Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition.

Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958, studied at the Central Music School in Moscow and later at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He married his teacher, Aliza Kezeradze, a renowned pianist, who died in 1996. Pogorelich has won many competitions, but his fame sparked with the prize he did not win, at the controversial International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where a furious Martha Argerich left the jury in protest.

His debut at Carnegie Hall, his exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and his performances in all the great concert halls throughout the world have created a sensation. He supports young musicians. In 1993, the Ivo Pogorelich Piano Competition was held for the first time in California.

This is one of the best in my CD collection. I absolutely can't hear if often enough. Eventually my thoughts wandered, wondering if JS Bach ever knew of, or played, Scarlatti. How would this sober giant of German keyboard music feel if he could experience the pure, clean brilliance of Scarlatti as played by Pogorelich? I'm sure he would feel delight with a tinge of regret that he could't approach composition with a lighter touch. On a similar note, I noticed that V. Horowitz, after his wonder years, took up the music of Scarlatti and played it to appreciative listeners. This CD shows Scarlatti as a great and wonderful composer, and a composer who needs a musician of awesome technical powers to represent him. I hope for more Scarlatti CDs by this marvelous pianist.

Tous les commentaires ont été dits sur cette prodigieuse production.

Avec talent, pour ne pas en ajouter une nouvelle qui ne frôle la redite.

Pogorelich, inspiré, joue avec bonheur ces pièces extraites d'un catalogue riche et difficile.

Je retrouve ces deux critiques pertinentes de l'époque.

« Voici, à n'en pas douter, l'un des meilleurs disques de Pogolelich publié depuis fort longtemps. Parce que dans ces pages concises, difficiles et exigeante où le pianiste n'a que peu de temps pour s'exprimer, il abandonne certains maniérismes, une volonté de faire un sort à chaque note qui randaient ses prestations précédentes passablements horripilantes. [...] Sa virtuosité naturelles, ses facilités confondantes font que chaque trait claque come un coup de fouet, que chaque trille étincelle. La bonheur est constant. » (Gregory Thomas, Répertoire n° 55 p. 58 - février 1993)

« Ivo Pogorelich choisit modestement de s'en tenir à quinze sonates des plus célèbres [...] parmi la petite centaine « possible » au piano, c'est-à-dire transposable sans torture du texte ni redistribution des rôle entre les deux mains. Il ne nous en donne pas moins un véritable festival de pyrotechnie digitale, usant pour cela de tous les artifices dont dipose l'instrument moderne pour mettre en avant la variété des jeux de gammes (K 119), d'accords (K 450), de tierce brisées (K 1) ou de sixtes (K 380) , des répétition (K 135), des imitations (K 159), des degrés disjoints (K 8) et des croisements de mains (K 529) qui nourrissent ce royaume du bref, du laconique et de l'aphorisme. [...] Ces sonates d'une précision, d'une variété, d'une recherche et d'une vie intenses font de ce disque un des plus beaux exemples de Scarlatti au piano. » (Etienne Moreau, Diapason n° 390 p. 130 - février 1993)