Yevgeny Sudbin - Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas (2016)

With the 2005 release of his first recording for BIS Records, Yevgeny Sudbin catapulted into the pages of the international music press. The disc was a Scarlatti recital that prompted reviewers worldwide to compare the then 24-year old pianist in the most flattering terms to Scarlatti experts such as Horowitz and Pletnev. It went on to receive a long list of distinctions, including an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, where the accompanying review described it as 'among the finest, certainly most enjoyable of all Scarlatti recitals'. Since then, Sudbin and BIS have enjoyed a highly successful collaboration, resulting in numerous acclaimed recordings of both solo programmes and concertos. To celebrate the past 10 years, a new Scarlatti recording seemed the obvious choice for an anniversary present to ourselves, and of course to all Sudbin fans and Scarlatti lovers. Said and done: Sudbin met up with Marion Schwebel, the recording producer with whom he has collaborated from the very beginning, for recording sessions in the silken acoustics of St George's in Bristol. The results can be heard on this new disc: 18 sonatas selected from the total of 555, a collection of striking, even bewildering, variety. Through it all, Sudbin guides us with authority and zeal as he brings to life elements which his own liner notes describe as 'church bells and gunshots (K119), howls in the streets (K479), trumpets appearing on the horizon (K159), head-spinning dances (K425) but also a wonderful sense of humour (K125) as well as scenes as melancholic, lean and desiccated as a sun-baked Mediterranean landscape (K99).'


The full spectrum of spectacular virtuosity and poetic depth. MusicWeb, Mar'16 /// Here is versatility touched with a touch of pianistic genius on a truly glorious scale. ***** –International Piano, May / June '16

Sudbin embraces the full resources of his Steinway Model D to recreate this music for a modern age. A winner. GRAMOPHONE RECORDING OF THE MONTH.Gramophone, April'16 /// He provides a master class in contemporary pianism and, more pertinently, he finds unexpected colours and depths in these sonatas. ***** –Early Music Today, Sept'16

Long immersed in Scarlatti's music, Sudbin is an ardent advocate, his fearless Russian School technique making light weather of even the most breakneck writing: virtuoso passagework is dahed off with devil may care abandon. This is impressive playing, by any standards. Performance **** Recording ***** –BBC Music Magazine, May'16

TRACKLIST
01. Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.417/L.462/P.40
02. Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K.208/L.238/P.315
03. Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K.159/L.104/P.418
04. Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, K.56/L.356/P.50
05. Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.213/L.108/P.288
06. Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.125/L.487/P.152
07. Keyboard Sonata in G Minor, K.373/L.98/P.158
08. Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K.119/L.415/P.217: Allegro
09. Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, K.69/L.382/P.42
10. Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.425/L.333/P.426
11. Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K.29/L.461/P.85
12. Keyboard Sonata in C Minor, K.99/L.317/P.135
13. Keyboard Sonata in G Minor, K.12/L.489/P.68
14. Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K. 479/L.S16/P.380
15. Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.9/L.413/P.65
16. Keyboard Sonata in F-Sharp Major, K.318/L.31/P.302
17. Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.141/L.422/P.271
18. Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, K.32/L.423/P.14