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There are often instances where an artist's genius is not truly recognized until well after their passing. This is often due to the circumstances during his or her lifetime not being conducive to his or her discovery or widespread appeal. Such is the case of Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti, who has only in the past century begun to be recognized as one of the period's greatest composers.Guitarist Diego Barber discovered Scarlatti's music through his mentor, and celebrated guitarist, Riccardo Gallén, who had Barber rapt with attention in a performance of Scarlatti's Sonata No. 27. After hearing vocalist Theo Bleckmann performing a Schubert lieder with Uri Caine, Barber decided to adapt Scarlatti's sonatas for guitar and voice, thus birthing his new recording, Scarlatti Sonatas.Domenico Scarlatti grew up in the shadow of his famous father, Italian opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti. The younger Scarlatti found his muse in Queen Barbara of Braganza, for whom he was her Court harpsichord master and musical teacher. One of Scarlatti's duties was to write new sonatas weekly. In Barbara's charge, Scarlatti moved to Lisbon, Sevilla, and Madrid, absorbing Portugal and Spain's folkloric music.Though he never wrote for the guitar, Scarlatti likely heard music for the instrument's predecessors, including the lute. Famously, Scarlatti was gifted a guitar from the King and heard a lute-based ode to a dying royal. Scarlatti was prolific at writing for the harpsichord, writing 555 harpsichord sonatas that are richly woven with genius melodies and dynamic rhythms. After discovering Scarlatti's music, Barber became fascinated with his story and his connection to Spain and guitar-like instruments. Barber has become well known for incorporating his classical guitar playing into the improvising realm of jazz. It was his attraction to improvised music that led him to collaborations wi
