D. Scarlatti - Complete Keyboard Sonatas 10 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Dan Laurin - Stravaganze Napoletane [COMPACT DISCS] date 10/26/2004

In the light of his later music, it is by no means difficult to imagine Domenico Scarlatti strolling under the Moorish arcades of the Alcazar or listening at night in the streets of Seville to the intoxicating rhythms of castanets and the half oriental melodies of Andalusian chant. To them Saracen of his Sicilian ancestry and Neapolitan childhood must have responded. (Ralph Kirkpatrick, Domenico Scarlatti)

Muzio Clementi was born four years before Mozart and outlived Beethoven by the same span. His legacy to pianists as a composer and teacher was a significant one, introducing new virtuosity and exploring the expressive possibilities of the piano, a recently developed instrument. Clementi dedicated his youthful Op. 1 sonatas to his benefactor Peter Beckford, and the brilliant Sonata in F major, Op. 24, No. 1 is the partner work to Op. 24, No. 2 played in the famous contest between Clementi and Mozart. In her recording of Scarlatti's Keyboard Sonatas Soyeon Kate Lee 'applies her playful imagination to each one, polishing it into a unique gem.' (The Whole Note).