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After spending a significant amount of time exploring the outer fringes of the classical music solar system, it's always nice to descend to a lower orbit and revisit the inner planetary bodies close to the core. An exact contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) was one of the major luminaries of the Baroque period. Like his father Allessandro, he was a prolific and versatile composer, but today he is mostly recognized and prized for his 555 keyboard sonatas.

Unlike his German counterpart mostly concerned with form, structure and counterpoint, Scarlatti's main objectives were aesthetics and modal expressivity. When you compose 555 pieces for the same instrument, expressive and technical variety are a must.

It's obvious here that Spanish pianist Javier Perianes understands this concept. Simply by altering from major to minor keys as the program moves along goes a long way in preventing ear fatigue. It sets the tone for a variety of tempers and colors along the way. By avoiding the straight and linear approach, Perianes also makes apparent the idea that Scarlatti's sonatas were the original harbingers of the Beethoven sonata. He performs each and every one with a distinctive character emphasizing their tonal temper, something Beethoven strived for. Listen to the short audio clip below of the Sonata K. 462 in F minor and tell me it doesn't sound exactly like early Beethoven.

In a previous review of Javier Perianes playing the music of Maurice Ravel I had pointed out that he "excels here with pinpoint rhythmic accuracy and quick-fire action in dynamic shifts." When listening to the audio clip below of the Sonata K. 141 in D minor you will hear exactly that. There's a natural fluidity to his playing that would make even the 'Frère Jacques' nursery rhyme sound highly musical.