Scott Ross Scarlatti Intégrale Des Essercizi

Scarlatti’s well-known sonata in A Major (Kirkpatrick 208) is described as “the happiest one, with the most sunshine of all” by Scott Ross, whom it was the favorite among the legendary complete cycle he recorded in eighteen months of time in the château d’Assas. It is featured on top of this second volume of sonatas florilegium, with 29 other pieces.

Scott Ross was the first ever keyboardist to take up this challenge: recording the complete set of Scarlatti 555 sonatas. He left us an amazing testimony of his art during the year and a half this mad undertaking lasted. This complete collection is a landmark in recording history - enjoy its quintessence in this florilegium of thirty select sonatas for harpsichord (with a second volume to follow).

This harpsichord recital by Scott Ross was first broadcast on the French radio France Musique in 1986. It was only released on CD in 2009 by Diapason. In this recital, Scott Ross plays the Suite in E minor and the First Concert in C minor by Jean-Philipe Rameau, the 4th suite in D major by Johann Sebastian Bach and three sonatas (K215, K492 and K27) by Domenico Scarlatti.

Ross's playing is fully worthy: he is lively, technically assured, rhythmically resilient and, above all, he conveys his enjoyment of the music, without eccentricity.

One of the most extraordinary achievements on disc in the last quarter-century…Wherever you dip into them, the sense of stylishness, energy and, especially, Ross's affection for Scarlatti's boundless harmonic and rhythmic imagination is obvious. It's a constant, almost inexhaustible joy.

Scott Ross was an American harpsichordist who was both popular and renowned for his brilliant technique and insightful interpretations. He recorded the complete works of Scarlatti, Rameau, and Couperin, three composers, along with J.S. Bach, whose music he became identified with over his brief career. Ross was also a highly respected harpsichord teacher in Canada and France.

The genius harpsichordist Scott Ross remains famous for his comprehensive Bach and Scarlatti recordings, but he explored a wider range of Baroque music, for instance Antonio Soler who had supposedly studied with Scarlatti and whose lively sonatas bear witness to the richness of the keyboard Spanish school and the intensity of musical life at the Spanish court.