I could listen to Scarlatti all day (and often do.) I have CFS, so I have an abnormally low energy level. Scarlatti energizes me. Though that’s true of most Baroque music. Maybe that’s why I love it so much.
Thanks for these great videos...I do hope they haven't dried-up! I have only recently discovered Scarlatti and, thus far, on my journey of exploration I've been very taken by K213. Its repeated, slightly hesitant, cascading refrain really bores its way into the memory and is definitely the holder of this week's "earworm" award! It's highly felicitous stuff!😊
Glad you made it home safely. Watched the Scott Yoo bbc series, now hear this, on Scarlatti and the flamenco influence is really prominent in this piece. So much fun.
Small doses also apply to Satie and Monpou for opposite reasons. The best Scarlatti compilations intercalate the (few) slower sonatas between the hyperactive ones. Of course, major tranquilizers also do the trick!
Perhaps I might suggest a small detour? I'm thinking of Charles Avison's Twelve Concerto’s in Seven Parts … Done from Two Books of Lessons for the Harpsicord Composed by Sig. Domenico Scarlatti. The final allegro of concerto no.9 is a delightful pick, based on Kk.7.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Great! I have only read the comments in parts, I'm afraid, so far, but I will catch up. It's a pity that Avison Ensemble did not record them on Naxos, but on another label.
Oh I love Domenico’s sonatas. Thank you for giving them the attention they deserve! And for reminding me that I need at least one complete recording. My pick is K.141, in D minor. Another example of his miraculous flamenco style writing for the harpsichord. This one is so incredibly exiting, with furious rapid repeated notes and dramatic staccato outburst of thick chords in the most gorgeous quirky expressive harmonic progressions. I first heard it with Pierre Hantaï -superb of course. Then with the phenomenal Albanian violinist(!) Tedi Papavrami who is also absolutely fantastic in his own way. Mikko Lindgren Nacka, Sweden
My vote is for K, 430. My introduction to Scarlatti's music was through Gould's recording of that little, almost childlike sonata. It's jumpy, joyous and utterly memorable. So much music packed into just under two minutes!
After suggesting K202 I try my luck again putting the somewhat neglected K 55 under the spotlight: definitely one my feelgood pieces, simple, flowing. vivacious and yet profound and full of rhythmic and melodic riches for the ones who dare to dig under the surface. Again I must here refer to Zacharias, who put an incredible bonus cd with 20 live versions of the same K 55 in his old but gold EMI Scarlatti box: one of my favourite and most bizarre discs ever! P.S. yeah, seeing Scarlatti as a 300-years-early neoclassic modernist is really stimulating point of view
My vote goes to K490 in D Major which Wanda Landowska was playing in her apartment the day the Nazis entered Paris. If you can find this recording you can hear the German artillery in the background.
Coincidentally, though of no particular significance I can think of, Pulcinella was the name also of the cat to whom Muzio Clementi attributed the wayward subject of the "Cat's Fugue".
Thanks so much for doing these. I love Scarlatti. Looking through the list of selections I'd like to pick a slow one in a minor key. Why? Because not all Scarlatti will leave you with shattered nerves if you listen to too many at once (although I have always heeded your advise to limit myself to small doses at any given time). Here is an exquisite one: K.197 in B minor.
I like his K 384, in C major, very much, especially as played by Christian Zacharias. To me, this is different from most of the other Scarlatti-sonatas, which can make you feel nervous, that's true, except for this one.
A perfect example of one of the Scarlatti sonatas that cries out for the harpsichord rather than the modern piano. Some of the more ‘galant’ sonatas, I’d argue work ok on the later instrument. All that clustery, ‘dirty’ chords, this one breaks every rule of 18th century harmony. And thanks for the namecheck, Dave! And yes, Bartok! Who used them a lot in his piano teaching.
I suggest K.444. The way the sonata continuously shifts from minor to major reminds me of Francis Poulenc (particularly his "Concert champêtre"), although Scarlatti gives us a happy (major) ending.
I love your characterful pairing of NYC street geography with Scarlatti. It’s been far too long since I’ve been to New York, but I have beloved relations in every borough except Staten Island (plus a brother in New Jersey). Not sure I’d have the same courage navigating the concrete transportation jungle in my Ford as I did when I was a younger man. I don’t know this sonata, but I am very intrigued by the Stravinsky-ite textures on offer.
Two things. First, I used to drive a lot around the UK - a lot, believe me - and I tried listening to music. Trouble was that I listened too intently. I just can’t have “classical” (sorry) music as a background. And British roads tend not to be Long and straight. Terrible! I discovered that spoken word was fine, though. Second, I want to thank you for your videos. I may disagree with your views (reasonably often, at least) but so much leads me to think and to explore. Most of all, I have been spurred to listen to so much I’d not bothered with before.
Some of these sonatas are also hard as hell to play. This one also has some cross-hand passages that must have been spectacularly virtuosic in Domenico's time. The story goes however that as he got older, he got immensely fat and could not longer negotiate those cross-hands. I can relate! BTW, do you have an opinion on the Scott Ross version (the only complete one I have)?
Actually, it was his patroness, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain, who got immensely. Any portrait of her from middle-age onward, will prove this. As for Scarlatti, he seems to have stayed reasonably slim. I’m not sure how old he was when his one known portrait was painted - in his fifties, maybe? Anyway, he doesn’t appear fat in it.
Maybe it’s not Scarlatti’s music that raises blood pressures? Maybe it’s the grating, piercing, horrific sound of that most awful instrument, the harpsichord? An instrument so bad they had to invent the piano just so they could go on with life (I think that’s how it happened). ... anyway, love the video!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I think it's the same with period pianofortes, whether originals or reproductions. I used to avoid them like the plague because the ones I'd heard sounded like saloon pianos, but now I really enjoy the sound of good ones like Brautigam uses in his Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven cycles and the one Emmanuel Ax plays in the Chopin concertos. Do you think a full disc of Scarlatti on piano would have put you on edge like the disc on harpsichord did?
That is very generous of you, Sir. One would think though that if they go to the trouble of making a recording of harpsichord music, Scarlatti nonetheless, they would go to an equal amount of trouble finding an instrument that is less than wretched. With that said, your point is well taken. Thank you.
@@Don-md6wn Certainly not--pianos have degrees of dynamic variation. Some harpsichords with extra manuals or special stops can do it, but most do not. But then, I don't think 30 sonatas in a row works on any instrument!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I also don't think harpsichords record particularly well. They have a quite delicate tone in person, but once recorded and re-amplified, they often sound like monstrosities.
I could listen to Scarlatti all day (and often do.) I have CFS, so I have an abnormally low energy level. Scarlatti energizes me. Though that’s true of most Baroque music. Maybe that’s why I love it so much.
Fantastic! I will try to follow all of these Scarlatti sonata talks. Keep them coming.
Thanks for these great videos...I do hope they haven't dried-up! I have only recently discovered Scarlatti and, thus far, on my journey of exploration I've been very taken by K213. Its repeated, slightly hesitant, cascading refrain really bores its way into the memory and is definitely the holder of this week's "earworm" award! It's highly felicitous stuff!😊
Glad you made it home safely. Watched the Scott Yoo bbc series, now hear this, on Scarlatti and the flamenco influence is really prominent in this piece. So much fun.
Small doses also apply to Satie and Monpou for opposite reasons. The best Scarlatti compilations intercalate the (few) slower sonatas between the hyperactive ones. Of course, major tranquilizers also do the trick!
I just found an old Westminter lp with Clara Haskil playing Scarlatti. Wow. I bought it, and I enjoyed it very much.
That's a very famous recording...
Perhaps I might suggest a small detour? I'm thinking of Charles Avison's Twelve Concerto’s in Seven Parts … Done from Two Books of Lessons for the Harpsicord Composed by Sig. Domenico Scarlatti. The final allegro of concerto no.9 is a delightful pick, based on Kk.7.
This has been discussed already in these comments. I'm hoping to do something on them if I can get permission to use some samples from somewhere.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Great! I have only read the comments in parts, I'm afraid, so far, but I will catch up. It's a pity that Avison Ensemble did not record them on Naxos, but on another label.
Oh I love Domenico’s sonatas. Thank you for giving them the attention they deserve! And for reminding me that I need at least one complete recording.
My pick is K.141, in D minor. Another example of his miraculous flamenco style writing for the harpsichord. This one is so incredibly exiting, with furious rapid repeated notes and dramatic staccato outburst of thick chords in the most gorgeous quirky expressive harmonic progressions. I first heard it with Pierre Hantaï -superb of course. Then with the phenomenal Albanian violinist(!) Tedi Papavrami who is also absolutely fantastic in his own way.
Mikko Lindgren
Nacka, Sweden
My vote is for K, 430. My introduction to Scarlatti's music was through Gould's recording of that little, almost childlike sonata. It's jumpy, joyous and utterly memorable. So much music packed into just under two minutes!
After suggesting K202 I try my luck again putting the somewhat neglected K 55 under the spotlight: definitely one my feelgood pieces, simple, flowing. vivacious and yet profound and full of rhythmic and melodic riches for the ones who dare to dig under the surface. Again I must here refer to Zacharias, who put an incredible bonus cd with 20 live versions of the same K 55 in his old but gold EMI Scarlatti box: one of my favourite and most bizarre discs ever!
P.S. yeah, seeing Scarlatti as a 300-years-early neoclassic modernist is really stimulating point of view
My vote goes to K490 in D Major which Wanda Landowska was playing in her apartment the day the Nazis entered Paris. If you can find this recording you can hear the German artillery in the background.
Yes, and we can contrast it with the Giieseking "Emperor" Concerto with allied bombs doing off, and make it a series.
What a great idea!
Coincidentally, though of no particular significance I can think of, Pulcinella was the name also of the cat to whom Muzio Clementi attributed the wayward subject of the "Cat's Fugue".
I don’t know if that story was true, or not. But I like to think Scarlatti was a cat guy.
Thanks so much for doing these. I love Scarlatti. Looking through the list of selections I'd like to pick a slow one in a minor key. Why? Because not all Scarlatti will leave you with shattered nerves if you listen to too many at once (although I have always heeded your advise to limit myself to small doses at any given time). Here is an exquisite one: K.197 in B minor.
I'm just thinking of the poor guy that had to record all of them what state was he in by week two or three showing up at the studio for another round
I like his K 384, in C major, very much, especially as played by Christian Zacharias. To me, this is different from most of the other Scarlatti-sonatas, which can make you feel nervous, that's true, except for this one.
A perfect example of one of the Scarlatti sonatas that cries out for the harpsichord rather than the modern piano. Some of the more ‘galant’ sonatas, I’d argue work ok on the later instrument. All that clustery, ‘dirty’ chords, this one breaks every rule of 18th century harmony. And thanks for the namecheck, Dave! And yes, Bartok! Who used them a lot in his piano teaching.
K182 is crazy a piece too - dissonant notes thrown around like confetti!
That's one of the six that begin in major and end in minor, rather than the other way around, which is far more common.
I suggest K.444. The way the sonata continuously shifts from minor to major reminds me of Francis Poulenc (particularly his "Concert champêtre"), although Scarlatti gives us a happy (major) ending.
The 3rd escapade definitively about K87...
I love your characterful pairing of NYC street geography with Scarlatti. It’s been far too long since I’ve been to New York, but I have beloved relations in every borough except Staten Island (plus a brother in New Jersey). Not sure I’d have the same courage navigating the concrete transportation jungle in my Ford as I did when I was a younger man. I don’t know this sonata, but I am very intrigued by the Stravinsky-ite textures on offer.
K 175 or Longo 256 OKay. Listening to Scarlatti on the harpsichord in my car is dangerous for me, it could conduct me to an accident.
speaking of Scarlatti, what is your opinion on Margherita Torretta? For me she's on the top of the tops, but would like to have your opinion
My opinion is that $25 for a single disc by a no-name artist is a rip-off.
@@DavesClassicalGuide hahh true, I didn't know about the price, I only saw/heard her here on YT and I really liked her
Two things.
First, I used to drive a lot around the UK - a lot, believe me - and I tried listening to music. Trouble was that I listened too intently. I just can’t have “classical” (sorry) music as a background. And British roads tend not to be Long and straight. Terrible! I discovered that spoken word was fine, though.
Second, I want to thank you for your videos. I may disagree with your views (reasonably often, at least) but so much leads me to think and to explore. Most of all, I have been spurred to listen to so much I’d not bothered with before.
Thank you. Safe travels!
Some of these sonatas are also hard as hell to play. This one also has some cross-hand passages that must have been spectacularly virtuosic in Domenico's time. The story goes however that as he got older, he got immensely fat and could not longer negotiate those cross-hands. I can relate! BTW, do you have an opinion on the Scott Ross version (the only complete one I have)?
Actually, it was his patroness, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain, who got immensely. Any portrait of her from middle-age onward, will prove this. As for Scarlatti, he seems to have stayed reasonably slim. I’m not sure how old he was when his one known portrait was painted - in his fifties, maybe? Anyway, he doesn’t appear fat in it.
Sorry, that should read “immensely fat” in the third line.
Maybe it’s not Scarlatti’s music that raises blood pressures? Maybe it’s the grating, piercing, horrific sound of that most awful instrument, the harpsichord? An instrument so bad they had to invent the piano just so they could go on with life (I think that’s how it happened). ... anyway, love the video!
I love the harpsichord in principle. The problem is that there are so many wretched instruments out there.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I think it's the same with period pianofortes, whether originals or reproductions. I used to avoid them like the plague because the ones I'd heard sounded like saloon pianos, but now I really enjoy the sound of good ones like Brautigam uses in his Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven cycles and the one Emmanuel Ax plays in the Chopin concertos. Do you think a full disc of Scarlatti on piano would have put you on edge like the disc on harpsichord did?
That is very generous of you, Sir. One would think though that if they go to the trouble of making a recording of harpsichord music, Scarlatti nonetheless, they would go to an equal amount of trouble finding an instrument that is less than wretched. With that said, your point is well taken. Thank you.
@@Don-md6wn Certainly not--pianos have degrees of dynamic variation. Some harpsichords with extra manuals or special stops can do it, but most do not. But then, I don't think 30 sonatas in a row works on any instrument!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I also don't think harpsichords record particularly well. They have a quite delicate tone in person, but once recorded and re-amplified, they often sound like monstrosities.