In recent years, Christian Zacharias
has become as well known a conductor as a pianist. Fortunately
for us, this highly respected artist continues to apply himself
to the instrument. With one or two exceptions, his extensive
discography as a pianist has focused on the Austro-German repertoire:
Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and, particularly, Mozart, performances
of whose solo works and concertos have earned excellent reviews.
The major exception is Scarlatti. Zacharias
features in a documentary film Domenico
Scarlatti in Seville and recorded two volumes of sonatas
for EMI before this one for his current label, MDG.
I have to confess that, in spite of all the great
pianists who have recorded Scarlatti, with Horowitz leading
the pack, I still generally prefer to hear the sonatas played
on a harpsichord. Only the harpsichord can give full value to
the crunching discords, the coruscating scales, the guitar effects,
etc. Having said that, I further need to confess that I have
myself played certain sonatas on the piano, not to mention in
arrangements for recorder ensemble. With that admission, I had
better keep any ‘authenticity’ arguments to myself and get on
with discussing this CD.
And highly enjoyable it is, with Zacharias
giving tasteful, clear and unexaggerated performances of a well-chosen
selection of sonatas. One of the great things about not being
a Scarlatti specialist is that every new CD brings fresh treasures
and almost all the sonatas on this disc were new to me. K 126
is galant in style and receives an
appropriately poised performance. In contrast, K 450 in the
same key of C minor has the flavour of Spanish dances. K 108
is powerful, quite pianistic in fact. The serenity of K 384
contrasts with the almost Beethoven-like quirkiness of K 406.
And so it goes on, with Zacharias
meeting all the diverse musical and technical challenges with
equanimity. In K 518, he employs a subtle rubato, crisp articulation
and well-pointed ornamentation. In the restless agitato
of K 519, Mendelssohn of all people came to mind; how easy it
would be to give characteristic ‘songs-without-words’ titles
to these sonatas! Zacharias is adept
at handling Scarlatti’s frequent abrupt changes of mood, such
as in K 434 where a quiet melancholy suddenly gives way to strength
and power.
When I reached the end of this CD, I had forgotten
that the harpsichord existed. These are rewarding performances
of deeply-felt music and, however many Scarlatti recordings
you have, you could beneficially add this one to your collection.
Roger Blackburn
Early
Music
Christian 
SACD Hybrid MDG 940 1162-6 
