The untamed master who revolutionized keyboard technique (Scarlatti w Huangci, Brown, Baczewska)

[@tonebasePiano]

Small correction - Scarlatti died in 1757, not 1751! Apologies for not catching my misspeak. It was so much fun talking to Magdalena and Jeff, and there was so much more wonderful content from them that couldn't fit in this video - stay tuned for their full interviews coming soon on the tonebase blog!

[@CondeFauno]

Big hugs and greetings from Colombia, Robert! Love your videos and your enthusiasm. n_n

[@tonebasePiano]

Thanks so much for the kind words! Glad you’re enjoying the videos 🎹😊

[@Stevie-Steele]

The most famous composer from my local city of Newcastle in Northern England was Charles Avison - a Baroque era composer most famous for his "12 Concerti Grossi after Scarlatti". Apparently - Scarlatti's music was quite popular in England during his lifetime and Avison gained recognition recreating Scarlatti's music for larger ensembles. The arrangements work really well and I recommend them to all fans of Scarlatti - to hear a refreshingly different arrangement of his works that may in turn inspire your piano interpretations of them!

[@edgarcattaneo7629]

I think the Concerti Grossi weren't Domenico's but most likely his father's Alessandro which was very much more famous thank his son during his life...

[@AlessandroSistiMusic]

​@@edgarcattaneo7629What Avison did was take fast movements of Domenico's sonatas and put them at the end of these concerti. The slow middle movements were often by Avison himself (since Scarlatti has so few slow sonatas), and Avison passed them off as works of the Neapolitan!

[@edgarcattaneo7629]

@@AlessandroSistiMusic Very interesting, thank you! I must check them out!

[@mtheinvincible4156]

Yes! Scarlatti's contemporary English publisher Charles Burney knew the British people would recognize the eccentric elements in Scarlatti and would eat it up, and, indeed, they did, as two British harpsichordists of the day also programmed some of the published sonatas of Scarlatti in 18th c. London and other British towns and cities. He still had something of a cult following there, when the child Mozart toured in England as a little prodigy.

[@AshleyMultiAdventures]

I confess I’m a Scarlatti-nut, I have over 80 discs of his music, and am working on learning about 70 sonatas, though I don’t have much time to practice. Horowitz, Pletnev, Maria Tipo,Ivo Pogorelich , Michelangeli, Sudbin… there’s so many to love.!

[@Klavieralter]

I am so glad Tonebase covered Scarlatti. Fantastic. Thank you. Horowitz's recordings are a great place to introduce yourself to Scarlatti as well as Pletnev's recordings (available on Erato as a double disc). Scarlatti deserves more attention. I would say the same of Tchaikovsky's piano pieces. How is that piano greats like Richter often recorded and performed Tchaikovsky and yet modern pianists in the catalogues today hardly record or showcase him? This baffles me. I would really love Tonebase's take on this.

[@arian_ataei]

Great topic that you opened up. I'm amazed of the timing of I finding about the genius of Scarlatti and your video about it. I've been reading about him for the past 2 weeks. Pretty helpful and on time video.

[@Calcprof]

I am really fond of the Scott Ross complete recordings on harpsichord.

[@tonebasePiano]

These are wonderful recordings, I'm glad you brought them up! I believe Jeff said that they were the majority of what he listened to when diving into the entire collection.

[@AlessandroSistiMusic]

@@Calcprof I love Ross's recordings too. I recently heard of Emilia Fadini, who died in 2022. She has some absolutely brilliant recordings of Scarlatti that I'd recommend to anyone. The same Italian recording project, never completed, to capture all of Scarlatti's sonatas has fine and daring recordings on various instruments by other musicians, too :)

[@michelleclerc3857]

Scott Ross’s project of recording the whole set is a token of the admiration and the love a performer can bring to a composer’s world, and presupposes the perception of Scarlatti as a "life-fulfilling composer”. In addition to that, Ross performed and recorded them "in articulo mortis", against the ticking clock of death really, and that is an even greater testimony to his veneration: it was Scarlatti’s “full of life” music Scott Ross wanted nearest to him near the ending of his tragic destiny..

[@Calcprof]

@@michelleclerc3857 How well you said this. Thank you.

[@drjjpdc]

@@michelleclerc3857 I have been a fan of Baroque composers on Harpsichord/Organ for years. They just don't sound right to me on Piano. My favorites were Landowska, Kirkpatrick, Ross and Puyana. Only Ross recorded them all, I have his box on CD, I still haven't listened to every one with Ross. I enjoyed Kirkpatrick greatly on Bach's great 48 on Harpsichord. As mentioned you cannot forget about Ross' illness and the ticking of his time left. To my mind the piano softens and homogenizes his sonatas.

[@Mini_Min_]

I love Scarlatti's sonatas! Such variety and full of surprises. They are also so unmistakably Spanish - I must admit the first time I heard some of them I did not know much about his life but thought to myself - "This is so Spanish, I love it!". My favourite recording with Scarlatti's sonatas is by Ivo Pogorelich.

[@Javiermontanespianista]

Thank you! Next time you could dive into Antonio Soler, a composer who worked alongside Scarlatti as a musician at the Spanish royal court. His sonatas are also quite impressive in terms of character and modulation between keys. Such a gem to explore.

[@tonebasePiano]

I love Soler, as well as Seixas, who Scarlatti knew well when living in Portugal. These are both great, very underrated composers who deserve more attention.

[@sun-youngsunnykim8794]

Finally! A video about Scarlatti! As an amateur pianist, I love learning his pieces. I performed one some years ago, will be performing one this year and another one next year at the local performing arts festival.

[@tonebasePiano]

That's great! I hope you have a wonderful journey with his pieces!

[@bzzrt]

I love Scarlatti and Bach's piano works equally. My favorite composers!

[@mtheinvincible4156]

Great exposition on Scarlatti's uniqueness as a composer. Interesting that Chopin thought Scarlatti would be great to program in his recitals but was afraid the musical establishment circles of his day that didn't get Scarlatti would criticize him for it. One error you need to correct: 19:55 Sorry but fortunately for us all Scarlatti's creative life ended in Madrid IN 1757 not in 1751 as you said here. . And he created keyboard magic until the very end.

[@brianbuch1]

You mention Kirkpatrick, but it was Valenti's recordings that introduced Scarlatti's music to a wide listening audience. I don't remember hearing Kirkpatrick until many years after I'd gotten my hands on everything I could find of Valenti.

[@Summalogicae]

Valenti was my first real introduction to Scarlatti. I have several of Valenti’s albums.

[@thedigitalharpsichordist1541]

Valenti introduced me to both Scarlatti, and also Bach (his "Bach for Harpsichord" album), well over 50 years ago. I still love his interpretations.

[@prototropo]

After decades of adoring Brahms, Prokofiev, Barber, Sibelius, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Borodin, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Stravinsky, Mozart, Bach & Handel, I almost feel depressed to discover composers I had utterly neglected! Rameau, Scarlatti, Shostakovich, Albeniz and Bartok now dangle entire lifetimes of extraordinary works to hear, study, repeat. It's too much! I just grew infatuated with the biographies of Euler, Kant, Lafayette, Bartolomeo, Vercingetorix, Viriathus, Scipio Africanus, Eratosthenes, Boethius, Ibn Rusd, Humboldt, Olympe de Gouge, Ramon Y Cajal, Bonhoeffer and Sanger. It's all too much. How does anyone have time to watch Netflix, or spend a week in Puerto Vallarta?

[@Summalogicae]

As a young classical guitarist, I first heard Scarlatti via a John Williams recording; but when I went down the 555 rabbit hole, it was Fernando Valenti’s harpsichord albums that just blew me away. His playing was raw and hardcore, just like heavy metal. That’s when I discovered that Scarlatti was shred before there was shred.

[@CatholicChristian593]

Great presentation!

[@marktanney3347]

I have been a Scarlatti fan my whole life, and in my case, that's a long time. I have played a couple dozen of the sonatas over the years on a very intermediate level at best. But I got so much out of it. So many times, as both a listener and player, I have found myself just overwhelmed and breathless with the beauty and creativity. As you know there are so many good recordings of Scarlatti sonatas by many dozens of world class players. I have spent many happy hours and days listening to them. But concerning favorite recordings, like others who have commented here, I am a big fan of Scott Ross. His achievement on Scarlatti is so important. And then there is another player who has a completely different approach that I also appreciate so much and that is Wanda Landowska. It is hard to put her in a category because she is truly from a different time with some unusual instruments, etc. But her overall spectacular musicianship, so sensitive, original, and sublime, puts her in a category of her own.

[@picksalot1]

Thanks for making this video! I absolutely love the music of Scarlatti. I have a Classical Guitar background, and though the number of his pieces that can be transcribed effectively for guitar is limited, each one is a joy, and challenge to play. The influences of Spanish music and the guitar are evident in many of his compositions, and I think contributed to some of the unusual dissonances and strange chords that the guitar inspired. Scarlatti's music is delightful, exciting, mysterious, and so unpredictable at times that it is a wonder to image what it might have been like for his audience to hear such a marvel. Some of Bach's chord are quite surprising, but Scarlatti's can be astonishingly dissonant and modern, yet they make sense. I always feel that he truly heard his music in a way that transcended music styles and theory. How lucky we are that so much of his music survived, and a genius such as Chopin appreciated his wonderful music. Perhaps a video on the music of Couperin is something to consider, as it is extraordinary as well.

[@tonebasePiano]

Thank you for such a wonderful and thoughtful comment! I would love to make a video about Couperin - I'll certainly keep it in mind!

[@Summalogicae]

Scarlatti on classical guitar is fantastic as well. I very much enjoy Rene Izquierdo’s phenomenal performances of Scarlatti

[@dylansebring8739]

I am fortunate to have come across a book by Ruth Slenczynska, the last living student of Rachmaninoff who just celebrated her 100th birthday (!), called “Music At Your Fingertips.” She spoke about a time she had to take a short period of time off from playing piano. Rachmaninoff had allegedly made her play nothing but Scarlatti sonatas after her hiatus to help her fingers become re-sensitized to the keyboard!

[@tfpp1]

I’m a Scarlatti aficionado…I own all 550+ sonatas and assign them to my students as often as I can. 😊

[@ornleifs]

Love those Brilliant sonatas of his - I have so many version but the one that I have played the most for the last few years is the version by Claire Huangci.

[@martiglesias60]

He was born in the Kingdom of Naples, part of the Spanish Empire, not Italy as a country (5:55). His king -at birth- was Carlos II (Charles II, King of Spain).

[@quasiunafantasia1]

Otherworldly, yeah! 🌞😎✌🏻

[@edgarcattaneo7629]

I agree with mentioning Argerich and Horowitz! But what about Pogorelich? Probably the best Scarlatti I know!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I'm a piano Nooby, and I had a question while listening to this fascinating video. Can Harpsichord music be played as is on the piano? Are there any techniques or arrangements that can enhance the score? Does anyone remember Igo Kipnis? He performed several times at our Elizabethan Fair in Wyoming, and he was quite popular back in the late 1970s.

[@santiagolara992]

Pogo is the best scarlatti player of all times so far, can't believe you left him off the video

[@tonebasePiano]

Saved him for the end!

[@santiagolara992]

​@tonebasePiano I commented within 7 minutes left, and then he appeared and didn't realized, I'm so sorry! even tho it was a great video if pogo isn't in it

[@tonebasePiano]

Haha no worries, I agree that his Scarlatti is amazing and there’s enough there for a whole video of its own! Glad you enjoyed ☺️

[@santiagolara992]

@@tonebasePiano An Ivo video tribute? 👀 I would be so into that, his chopin, preluded and scherzos, his Gaspard de la nuit, are for me, the example of peak art production

[@erccurtis6029]

I've been a Scarlatti nut/fan for years now. I think I first heard of him from the Walter Carlos 'Switched-on Bach" album, and the follow-up 'The Well-tempered Synthesizer'. I recall Andre Watts opened a live TV recital in about 1985 with 2 Scarlatti sonatas. I prefer to hear him on the harpsichord, but on the piano or guitar, they also seem to work. You really need superhuman technique to play most of them, and it seems to me, some pianists play them too fast, I like the clarity of the harpsichord as well as his amazing rhythms. Just MHO. . .

[@robertmarcus9653]

Claire Haungci is my fabulous Scarlatti go-to. I like Domenico’s music works very well on guitar. Yepes and Robert Ausell. ☘️🔥👍💕🌻

[@88tongued]

Is Scarlatti:classical music::Seinfeld:sitcom television?

[@surfinia2]

Great video! But I thought you would also include the edition by Granados of Scarlatti's 26 sonatas in 1905.

[@tonebasePiano]

I wish I had had time to bring it up in this video, thanks for mentioning it here!

[@surfinia2]

@tonebasePiano No problem! 🙂

[@bartremmelzwaal5775]

Don’t forget Pogorelich!

[@tonebasePiano]

There's a little Pogorelich moment near the end of the video :)

[@bartremmelzwaal5775]

@ whoops, you got me

[@bonniesnowqueen7321]

Rafael Puyana

[@WalyB01]

I like Scarlatti more than Bach, there it has been said.

[@tonebasePiano]

Spicy! 🌶️

[@gspaulsson]

Dinu Lipatti

[@roberto.7475]

Not enough music

[@mantictac]

Why do pianists play Scarlatti 3 times faster than the harpsichordists?

[@isaacbeen2087]

do they?

[@dedikandrej]

coz piano has pedal - and coz piano has dynamics - you can paint the world in many different ways

[@mantictac]

@@isaacbeen2087 Compare Argerich 141 to Scott Ross

[@isaacbeen2087]

@ that's it? what about Gilels, whose recording is very slow? or countless examples of lightning fast harpsichord playing? the keyboard is smaller and very agile

[@saidtoshimaru1832]

Check Pierre Hantaï's recordings.

[@banjar10997]

Scarlatti died in seventeen fifty SEVEN

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

This is a wonderful video, and well worth half an hour of anyone’s time - thank you. Must just mention the awful mispronunciation of the composer’s name; you absolutely cannot use American-English vowel and consonant sounds on Italian names, and repeatedly hearing ‘Scarlarrdy’ spoiled this brilliant video. Scarlatti died in 1757.

[@thegreatnovel322]

K99

[@tjwhite1963]

On a modern piano? Baroque music? 😢

[@tonebasePiano]

We have some other videos about this very polemic! 🙂

[@richardhines8622]

One instrument does not rule the whole. Synchronization does not rule contrapuntal freedom for more that one voice. Being in the linage, I find it underhanded all attempts to pigeonhole anything great to being in the linage. Bach was not Jewish, no matter how hard you try, nor was Beethoven, now Charter was, as where the Second Viennese school. All start with the early song books which in many places where considered something not to do in most the Jewish enclaves at various times, not unlike their Semitic brethren that jumped ship to Islam whom referred to music as haram!. Rewriting history is nothing more than slitting ones throat.

[@roberto.7475]

Too much talking

[@martinopipino]

What about the amazing recordings by Pogorelich …. Among the most original and “modern” reading of Scarlatti?

[@tonebasePiano]

I saved the best for last, his recording is at the end! 🙂