Scarlatti: Sonatas for Two Guitars
Domenico Scarlatti wrote some 550 sonatas for harpsichord during his long tenure as a musician in the royal courts of Portugal and Spain early in the 18th century. But from the graceful way these 15 fall under the fingers of the classical guitar duo Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl, you would think Scarlatti wrote for the fretboard rather than the keyboard. Early-music purists may cringe at the suggestion, but in some ways the guitar's nylon strings are better suited to playing these intricate compositions than the sometimes clangorous tone of the harpsichord's metal strings. Gray and Pearl use all the expressive capabilities at their disposal, including different types of vibrato, shifts in dynamics, and a wide range of timbres--which are all impossible on the harpsichord--to tease out the subtle harmonies, unexpected cadences, and surprising melodic leaps that characterize Scarlatti's work. Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl may not play these sonatas on the original instrument they were composed for, but there is no arguing with the fact that they play them with taste and style.--Michael Simmons