Customer Reviews

Scarlatti : Complete Keyboard Works

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This set is a major investment, but one that is well worth making. It contains 34 CDs of truly wonderful music, superbly played. Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas form a remarkable and very rewarding body of work and they are immensely varied - passionate, serene, humorous... every mood or emotion you could think of is here somewhere. I never tire of them, and always find something fresh and new when I listen to them.

You do need to like the harpsichord if you're going to buy this set. I certainly do, and especially when it is played as well as this. These recordings by Ross are regarded as landmarks by many, and I wouldn't argue with that. His playing is technically brilliant, and he brings out all the variety in these amazing pieces. What also shines through is his sheer love for the music - every single sonata is played as though it really means something and he makes this monumental compendium a pleasure from start to finish.

I cannot recommend this set too highly. I have owned and loved the original Erato discs for years and still play them regularly and with immense pleasure. It is a set to last a lifetime and if you have any interest in baroque music or the keyboard in general, I urge you to give it a try.

This recording is an essential for any lover of the Baroque.
Ross here created, I feel, the yardstick recording by which any future Scarlatti cycle will be judged.
I cannot adequately review this performance, simply because any review would end up as a meaningless jumble of superlatives - everything about this recording is exactly as the most particular listener would want it. The accompanying notes are exhaustive and highly informative.
Listening to this, one cannot fail to be moved to sorrow that Ross did not live longer - but at least he left us this monument to Scarlatti's, and his own, genius.

this beautifull music played by the best harpsichordplayer ever gives me great joy! It is a shame this musician died far too young.

This wonderful set has some rudimentary copy protection, but if you download the brilliant and free FairStars CD Ripper you can quickly and painlessly have all 34 CDs on your computer in the format you require - MP3 good for portable devices.

I had read so many glowing descriptions of this recording that I was concerned my expectations might be too high.
On the contrary, it's time we re-evaluated our opinion of the harpsichord. I had already accustomed myself to
the harpsichord from the Bach gesamt Werk which is excellent. Ross elevates the instrument to another level.
Oh, and Scarlatti does his bit too.

I've listened to some performances of Ross in this box here and there, and they really were sublime. Most of the sonatas were the best I had listened. And I've decided to buy it.

Then I've seen that "copy protection" thing in the comments. If I will buy this, I will be unable to listen to it %90 of the time that I want to listen. Cannot be copied to my PC. Thus cannot be put to my MP3 player. This is absolutely horrible.

The age when you put your CD to your CD player to listen to it has long passed. People want to listen to the music they like whereever and whenever they want without carrying the CD box together with them and without the stress of putting them in and out of their CD-player in a careful way to not harm them. MP3 players made that possible.

I am extremely against piracy. But this production choice of Warner is simply wrong. It makes them lose customers in order to avoid piracy. And I'll be devoid of this beautiful performances because of this bad choice of theirs. This really frustrates me.

If there is a way to copy them to your PC and MP3, please share it with me and I'll delete this comment. Because I also hate to see a 1 star comment to this beautiful music.

Do you think that just because you can't copy the cds you can rate this as only 3 stars? You need to lack something to do so.

This is just the only version of Scarlatti's works you need to own. You could do without Belder's good but not good enough version, and the same could apply to Lester's recordings.

This is a must by the best harpsichord player in the last 30 years.

A must.