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Any suggestions for me to learn? I have no familiarity with the composer, and am trying to pick a sonata to start with.

Watts, Horowitz, Zacharias, Pogorelich, Schiff, and a few others.

There's nothing wrong with my reasoning. D. Scarlatti's music is written with the harpsichord in mind, although, as I said it sounds fine on the piano. Much of Bach's music is written for the generic Klavier - keyboard. Also, Bach was a better composer, so his music should be played more.

I would certainly agree Bach is a better composer(and that is why his worksd are performed more often thatn those of Scarlatti) but I'm not sure the rest of your explanation is correct. I believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong here)the Bach works that are today usually played on the piano were originally written with the harpsichord or clavichord in mind. Therefore since Scarlatti's works were not written for the piano, the explanation that they are not performed that often(if true)cannot be blamed on the fact that they were composed for an instrument other than the piano.

I think a lot of people here are assuming that since Scarlatti is not often recorded and not oft played in major venues by major concert artists that it's somehow neglected.

However, in the thousands of concerts played by lesser-known pianists, including college faculty and student recitals, I believe Scarlatti is very well represented.

Probably one of the big reasons major artists don't play Scarlatti (or Bach for that matter) is that they tend to play in very large venues where the crispness of Scarlatti is lost in the cavernousness of the hall. Those pianists who don't play the large halls and big festivals play Scarlatti all the time.

As I mentioned up above, Gilels is my favorite piano Scarlatti CD. (I want to find more on harpsichord.) The one I have is on the "Award" label, catalog AWCD28700. I bought it from the bargain bin at an HMV store in Sydney. It's a live recording and there is a fair amount of background noise (coughing, rustling, etc.), but the interpretations are breathtaking. The disc also includes a few pieces by Rameau, Haydn, and JSB.

I have the Alfred edition titled "Scarlatti: An Introduction to His Keyboard Works." It's well done, has great introductory notes, and optional embellishments printed in grey above the staff. There is a subset of this volume with a name like "Scarlatti Keyboard Works for the Young Pianist." I have also seen pieces from this edition in other Alfred books.

I just started with the first one in the book which is K32, which also happens to be on the Gilels CD I raved about earlier in this post. It is hauntingly beautiful, simple but complex, slightly mysterious, and definitely intriguing.

If I can muster the nerve, I'll be playing it at the PNWPFP next month.

i actually had Maria Tipo's CD first and liked it. but when i got Horowitz's one, i like it much better. his K466, K198, K481, K547, K197, K25, K52, K303 are so beautifully done with haunting emotions.

Horowitz certainly plays a unique Scarlatti.

I also highly recommend Mikhail Pletnev's 2-cd set of Scarlatti sonatas. His playing is meltingly beautiful, not quite as hyper-active as Horowitz.

now that you mentioned it, i'll certainly check out Pletnev's cd and Gilels' later...

I am sure this is a well known site for Scarlatti lovers...with all the midi numbers it is good to quickly get the gist of a piece. There are so many gems - I like K.430 Tempo di Ballo

<http://www.midiworld.com/skindx.htm>

Was there a link posted earlier in this thread to an online Scarlatti site that I missed somehow?
I just finished searching the thread again and don't find the link that I think Matthew is referring to.

Bob

try this link:

http://www.midiworld.com/scarlatti.htm

thanks, signa.

you're welcome.

i am learning K25(L481) now, which is fun and actually not difficult to play with the same motifs repeated over different keys a lot. Horowitz's playing of it sounds mercury like and very exciting.

i just got Pletnev's 2CD set (with total 31 sonatas). indeed, it is a very good one. Pletnev's playing sounds more delicate than any others' playing i've heard so far.

comparing it with Horowitz's playing, his seems quite different. for example, they both played K25. Horowitz plays it with passion and intensity by keeping strict fast tempo and maintaining the melody flow and its relentlessness, while Pletnev gives it a totally different character: delicacy and sentiment with deliberate tempo changes where the melody flow is interrupted or intruded constantly. personally, i prefer Horowitz's interpretation on this one. not that i don't like Pletnev's interpretation of it, i was just surprised by the difference between them.