Scarlatti : Complete Keyboard Works

So far I have listened to 7 of the discs. I am playing one a day, although I know that all these recordings will need several hearings. The intensity of the musical ideas is intimidating. Until now I would have named J. S. Bach as my musical deity. Now I am not so sure. Anyway, I know that the cash I spent to get these Scott Ross recordings was money very well spent.

Actually my 5-star rating doesn't tell the whole story. I have to admit, I got through an initial auditioning of 22 of the 34 CDs, making it policy not to listen to more than one disc per day, and ended up with harpsichord and Scarlatti sonatas indigestion, and putting the whole set in my 'out tray' to pass on to a local charity shop.I really do love Scarlatti sonatas, honestly! But it was a plain mistake of mine to buy a huge set like this - especially played on the harpsichord. I found myself increasingly bugged by the largely unvarying volume of the twangy harpsichord sound, and the incessant activity of the music. That, despite the excellent playing by Scott Ross, and the excellent recording quality - though consistently set at too high a level: I needed to reduce the volume by 3dB to make it more acceptable. The harpsichord isn't a loud instrument, and so it doesn't make sense to have it so loud in a recording.I would recommend anyone thinking of buying this set to think carefully about what they would be taking on. Even with the more varied sound of a piano rendition there would still be the issue of a certain similarity of music through the huge number of sonatas, and, however much you love certain individual ones, you might well end up with the same sort of surfeit that hit me.

Scarlatti just as his music should always sound. (ie NOT on the piano!)

a colection of mastery, at a giveaway price

For many years I have been listening regularly to Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas. Mainly to the ones performed by Christophe Rousset and Trevor Pinnock...very convincing recordings indeed...until by chance I came across the sound and 'the pulse' of Scott Ross. His playing is so incredibly natural and real, which enables him and his listeners to inhabit what Scarlatti had in mind. For me that is very precious.

I took a chance and bought these after hearing some of the sonatas, for the first time, played on a piano, on another CD I had recently acquired. Not being a massive fan of the harpsichord (I have a couple of other harpsichord recordings), I decided to take the risk based on existing reviews of these recordings.I have to say, that risk paid off! Obviously I cannot comment on their interpretations, as I am neither a musicologist, nor am I familiar with the music of Domenico Scarlatti. What I can say is that, so far (I am currently up to disc 17 of 34), I am thoroughly enjoying them, and also enjoying the sounds of the various harpsichords. Scott Ross plays the music with great flair and I have not noticed any particular nuances or idiosyncrasies that could start to annoy me, as can happen with some musical interpretations.Why only four stars, you may ask? Well, the timings of most of the discs, so far, seem to be well short of the length possibility of CDs, and the sonatas tend to be rather short, so I would have thought it would be easily possible to accommodate all the recordings on a lot fewer discs. Apart from that observation, the discs are elegantly presented in a sturdy box which is nicely finished off.Definitely recommend if you are looking for recordings of Scarlatti's sonatas.

If you are planning to rip this collection to put on your music player, be aware it is copy protected. I found some discussion online about Warner copy protection. One suggestion was to update the firmware on the PC's CD/DVD drive. This I did and to my surprise I can now play and copy the CDs. Relief ! You may need to do the same.

The only music I listen to by choice, is extreme metal - and the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti played by Scott Ross. What's to say that has hasn't already been said in other reviews? The greatest harpsichord player of modern times shows us just how wrong it is to play Scarlatti on a piano.