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Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757) Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol. 8 Sonata in A Kk181 [3:42]
Sonata in E Kk496
[4:48]
Sonata in C Kk420 [4:25]
Sonata in F minor Kk466
[6:39]
Sonata in B flat Kk441 [2:59]
Sonata in B minor
Kk87 [6:13]
Sonata in D Kk96 [4:50]
Sonata in G minor
Kk426 [5:48]
Sonata in A flat Kk127 [5:29]
Sonata in
F minor Kk462 [5:18]
Sonata in A minor Kk382 [2:24]
Sonata
in C Kk485 [5:08]
Sonata in A Kk101 [4:27]
Soyeon Lee
(piano)
rec. Performing Arts Centre, Country Day School, Ontario, Canada from 6-8 January
2006 DDD NAXOS 8.570010 [62:10]
Unless
caught up by a project not yet begun, this will be the first
complete Scarlatti sonata series on the piano. But don’t
hold your breath because it is perhaps about a quarter complete
and it certainly started before the turn of the millennium.
After volume 7, the voyage had apparently been becalmed for
a couple of years although the Naxos website has recently
contained news of two further recordings which are now on
the way. As with previous issues, there is a different pianist
for each disc. Sensibly, the better known works are being
shared out and here Soyeon Lee, the Korean born prize winner
of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild competition has four at
her disposal – Kk numbers, 87, 96, 420 and 466. Kk96 is one
of the best known of all and has been recorded by both Horowitz
and Pletnev.
The
disc begins with a couple of much more obscure sonatas which
set a fairly relaxed tone. Kk420 has a martial opening theme
which is perhaps a little understated, certainly there is
nothing showy about Lee’s playing. K466 is a haunting piece
which is taken slowly but the result is well-justified. Sensible
programming gives us a light airy work before another example
of deeper inspiration from Scarlatti – Kk87. Here the pianist’s
rock-steady pace and singing tone are both essential assets.
Kk96
follows – the centrepiece of the recital. If Lee’s rendition
is not a striking as either of the great Russian’s alluded
to above, comparisons are not entirely to her disadvantage.
In Scarlatti, being less distinctive is not necessarily a
bad thing and it is hard not admire playing as supple and
musical at this. The rest of the programme takes us into
the by ways of the oeuvre but these are as good a reason
as any for dipping into this series. Worth a particular mention
is Kk127 which has an ever changing mood and is set in the
rare key of A flat. The disc concludes full circle in the
key of A but is one of the composer’s more exuberant creations.
Soyeon
Lee is clearly a rising star. This playing is effortless
and she invariably seems to catch the most apposite of this
composer’s many moods. I’d rather like to hear more of her
Scarlatti (and perhaps some Bach) so perhaps there could
be some flexibility in respect of future issues? That said,
I do have some doubts about the Naxos Scarlatti series as
an entity and would regard it as likely to remain something
to be dipped into. Of the previous issues, Benjamin Frith
in volume 5 is the most persuasive I have heard but Soyeon
Lee at least matches him. Indeed this is on a par with another
Russian – Yevgeny Sudbin – whose 2005 BIS recital was a very
fine achievement (see review).
The
recording is worth a special mention – well up to the high
standard Norbert Kraft has previously set on various discs
for this label. The documentation is also decent and the
only thing that feels cheap about this disc is the price.
Patrick C Waller Links to reviews of previous
volumes in the series: Volume
3 (Jando)
Volume
5 (Frith)
Volume
6 (Zarafiants)
Volume
7 (Scherbakov)
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