Domenico Scarlatti - Sonatas (Ivo Pogorelich)

Information

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti

1. Sonata in E major, K. 20
2. Sonata in E major, K. 135
3. Sonata in D minor, K. 9
4. Sonata in D major, K. 119
5. Sonata in D minor, K. 1
6. Sonata in B minor, K. 87
7. Sonata in E minor, K. 98
8. Sonata in G major, K. 13
9. Sonata in G minor, K. 8
10. Sonata in C minor, K. 11
11. Sonata in G minor, K. 450
12. Sonata in C major, K. 159
13. Sonata in C major, K. 487
14. Sonata in B flat major, K. 529
15. Sonata in E major, K. 380

Ivo Pogorelich, piano

Date: 1992

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

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Review

Although this anthology is weighted towards more familiar sonatas, the programming is sufficiently intelligent and varied for one to sample a fairly comprehensive range of the composer's keyboard style. Five of the sonatas, at least, featured in Horowitz's repertoire, and consequently one is rather tempted to compare the two pianists. Pogorelich really does not come off too badly.

The CD opens with the E major Sonata that was popularized as the second item in Tausig's Pastorale e capriccio (in which the Pastorale was transcribed into E minor). I don't think Pogorelich is quite fast enough for the presto marking here and some rests in the opening passages strike me as being fractionally too long. The Pastorale turns up as the third sonata, and in it I thought that some of the loud notes were slightly too insistent; I would recommend the listener to keep the volume control low throughout the CD.

Overall, however, this is an attractively played collection, with stunning articulation for the ornaments and plenty of sparkling fingerwork to bring Scarlatti's vivid personality to life. Listen to the D major, Kk119 for a lovely mezzo piano singing tone juxtaposed with bubblingly alive fast passages—then again, the autumnal pathos of the B minor, Kk87 is equally affecting.

Perhaps one could have wished for greater humour and more exploitation of the passages that lend themselves to climaxes, but one respects that Pogorelich has his own way of doing things, and this is without a doubt both musicianly and intelligent. For me, the penultimate sonata of the anthology, a less than familiar one in B flat, KkS29, with its playful leaps and general light-heartedness, demonstrates Pogorelich's style at its best: a unique combination of sophistication and innocence. I didn't care so much for the interpretation of the famous E major, Kk380 that concludes the release the tempo changes are not wholly convincing to my way of thinking. But this is a fine CD that can be warmly recommended.

-- James Methuen-Campbell, Gramophone

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Domenico Scarlatti (Naples, 26 October 1685 – Madrid, 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style and he was one of the few Baroque composers to transition into the classical period. Like his renowned father Alessandro Scarlatti, he composed in a variety of musical forms, operas, cantatas and symphonias. Today he is known mainly for his 555 single movements keyboard sonatas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Scarlatti

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Ivo Pogorelich (born 20 October 1958 in Belgrade) is a Yugoslav-born Croatian pianist. He is known for his sometimes unorthodox interpretations, which have brought him a sizable following and both praise and criticism from musical experts. A musician of wide repertoire, Pogorelich has made recordings of works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Scarlatti, Schumann, Scriabin and Tchaikovsky. He was also the first classical pianist to be invited to perform in Kuwait. Pogorelich currently resides in Lugano, Switzerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivo_Pogorelich

https://ivopogorelich.com/

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