| Having recorded discs of Bach, Couperin and Rameau’s keyboard music, Alexandre Tharaud now turns his attention to Scarlatti. In so doing he cements his already considerable reputation as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of baroque keyboard music. Many of the most celebrated pianists of past and present have left great Scarlatti recordings including Horowitz, Michelangeli, Pletnev, Schiff and more recently Yevgeny Sudbin. Tharaud dedicates his recital ‘in memory of Clara Haskil’ who was closely associated with La Chaux-de-Fonds where this disc was recorded. She was noted for her superb Mozart and Scarlatti interpretations. Haskil left a recording of 11 Scarlatti sonatas including the glorious C major sonata K132 which Tharaud commits to disc here. Tharaud brings all of the resources of the modern grand piano to Scarlatti’s music and is unapologetically pianistic in his approach. He deploys a ravishing range of tone colour to the works, exquisitely executed ornamentation and a virtuoso technique. In the first sonata in the recital (K239 in F minor) he brings out the Spanish dance and flamenco elements: one can hear the click of the castanets and the Spanish dance. Tharaud also creates wonderful Spanish guitar effects in the ensuing G minor sonata K8 which punctuate breathtakingly embroidered contrapuntal lines. Overall, this is an absolutely superb piano recital and a glorious addition to the Scarlatti discography. |
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