Scarlatti - Complete Keyboard Sonatas
Scott Ross
Warner Classics 2564 620922

Release date September 2005

Scott Stonebreaker Ross was born in 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in France in 1989. He suffered from scoliosis (a form of lateral curvature of the spine) which necessitated his wearing a corset in his younger years. Having moved to France with his mother at the age of thirteen, he commenced studying the harpsichord at Nice and then Paris, moved to Quebec in 1971 to take up a teaching appointment, and returned to France in 1981. These recordings of all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti’s Keyboard Sonatas were completed over a period of eighteen months in 1984 and 1985, using five harpsichords; three sonatas were played on an organ, and five involved additional instrumentalists. Despite the use of three recording venues and such a variety of instruments, the sound quality is excellent throughout, with none of the fierceness or clangour that occasionally afflict discs of harpsichord music. The performances are of an almost uniformly high quality, displaying a remarkable degree of concentration. The more dance-like works really do dance and, whilst listeners of an earlier generation may hanker after Fernando Valenti’s ferocity in a handful of sonatas, there is no lack of attack where it is called for. Ross’ virtuosity does not draw attention to itself and might be taken for granted were it not for the apparent ease with which even the sternest technical challenges are surmounted. This set appears to have been the first complete recording of Scarlatti’s sonatas by a single artist, and it sets a standard that will be hard to improve upon. Astonishingly for such a vast undertaking, there is no sense of routine and there are no more than perhaps half a dozen places where one can sense that the focus might be flagging slightly. The quality of the playing and recording, together with the bargain price, make this an essential addition to any harpsichord enthusiast’s library.

John Pringle