D. Scarlatti: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 12

Featuring

Christoph Ullrich
Domenico Scarlatti

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Performer Biography

Christoph Ullrich's complete recording of Scarlatti's 555 sonatas, in collaboration with the Tacet label, began in 2011 and has released 13 double CDs to date.

Recording & Production

Christoph Ullrich is recording all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti's surviving harpsichord sonatas on a modern Steinway concert grand piano.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Scarlatti was a master of surprise, playing with the expectations of his listeners and his royal pupil Maria Bárbara, often subverting conventional musical structures.

Composition History

The two main collections of Scarlatti's sonatas ended up in Venice and Parma via the estate of the famous castrato Farinelli, a friend of Scarlatti who worked at the Spanish court.

Composition History

The 30 Esercizi, dedicated by Scarlatti to King João V of Portugal in gratitude for his knighthood, preceded the approximately 500 sonatas in the main collections.

Composer Biography

Maria Bárbara de Braganza, Queen of Spain, was Scarlatti's harpsichord teacher for 28 years and the person for whom he composed his sonatas.

Composition History

Most of Scarlatti's sonatas survived in two collections, each comprising 15 volumes, likely copied by his student Antonio Soler for Queen Maria Bárbara of Spain.