Add this copy of Scarlatti: Complete Keybord Sonatas, Vol. 4 to cart. $26.75, new condition, Sold by Importcds rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sunrise, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Naxos.
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Domenico Scarlatti. New. New in new packaging. USA Orders only! Brand New product! please allow delivery times of 3-7 business days within the USA. US orders only please.
Add this copy of Complete Keyboard Sonatas 4 to cart. $29.47, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Naxos.
Pianist Beatrice Long has had an extensive career as a performer and educator. In 1996, she recorded a selection of sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti which Naxos released in 2002 as volume 4 of its still ongoing project of recording Scarlatti's complete keyborad sonatas, more than 550 of them, on the piano. It was something of a retrospective to listen to this early volume in the series which I missed when it was issued.
The Naxos series offers the opportunity to hear Scarlatti, and to hear Scarlatti performed by many pianists with different performance styles. Both come to the fore in this CD. It includes 16 Scarlatti sonatas ranging from K.4 in G minor, a work included in the first published volume of 30 Scarlatti sonatas to K. 550 in B-flat major, which, if K numbers may be trusted, is one of the last of the sonatas. Of the 16 sonatas, 7 are in the minor key. The sonatas cover a section of Scarlatti's quirky, varied style, with a preponderance of lyrical, introspective pieces which bring out the best in Long's performance.
The recording includes several works from Ralph Kirkpatrick's two-volume set of Sixty Sonatas for the piano, a work I have lived with and played from for years. These sonatas include K. 215 in E major, K. 175 in A minor, K. 516 in D minor, K. 132 in C major, K. 519 in F minor, K. 403 in E major, and K. 470 in G major. It was good to hear Long's performances of these works with score in hand. Her readings have a deeply introspective, romantic cast which works best in the longer slower sonatas such as K. 132 which I have played. K. 403 is a work full of repeated notes, strong rhythms, and sudden stops. K. 175 is rapid in tempo and full of clangorous chords, while K. 470 is a singing, insouciant work. The contrapuntal D major sonata, K. 516 was among my favorites in this recording. For the remaining sonatas not included in the Kirkpatrick volume, K. 4 is an excellent and presumably early work, whileK. 99 in C major, a work of over 7 minutes has a romantic, melancholy character.
Beatrice Long herself plays with deep introspection, feeling and romance. Scarlatti may be performed in many ways, and I loved it. Listeners to other volumes in the Naxos series will hear a variety of pianistic approaches to Scarlatti, some romantic and lyrical, others faced-paced and driving. Scarlatti is best heard a few sonatas at a time as each creates its own musical world and in a variety of performance styles.
As Beatrice Long continues her performance career, the Naxos Scarlatti series has now reached volume 28, a quarter century after the first volume was issued in 1999. Each volume stands alone in itself and also is part of the series. I enjoyed reaching back to this early volume in the Scarlatti series and hearing Beatrice Long, which is lovely on its own and which has its place in the ongoing interpretation of Scarlatti.
