Domenico Scarlatti - Sonatas Vol 2

The Guardian 100

Angela Hewitt (piano)
(Hyperion)

Angela Hewitt has chosen 17 of Domenico Scarlatti’s super-abundant keyboard sonatas (he wrote more than 550) to create a second engaging recital following her 2015 volume. Again, she has cleverly organised her selection into satisfying subgroups linked by key and mood. We begin in declamatory mode with the theatrical sonata in D major Kk491 followed by the sultry Iberian flavours of Kk492 and Kk146 and so on. In another group, we hear sonatas Kk63 and Kk64, chosen to encourage amateur players to try this sparkling and inventive repertoire and yet another reason to admire this most accomplished of pianists.