Scarlatti Sonatas

»…eine wunderbare Einspielung…«

[3/2023 PIANONEWS]

»…Leporatti is one of those pianists whose playing creates the impression, both technically and interpretation-wise,to be completely self-confident.«

[6/2023 OPUS KLASSIEK / NL]

»…he discovers the howling of the wind with capricious little gusts…rattling castanets…Farinelli coloraturas…these images can easily be reproduced in the listener's mind.

The slow sonatas are impressive, such as the harmonically profound Adagio in K. 208: Leporatti plays it in a completely dreamy and deeply emotional manner, fully exploring the sound possibilities of a modern grand piano, so that this sonata seems to point ahead to the Romantic period…«

[14.04.2023 KLASSIK-HEUTE.DE]

»…Er bringt eine Leichtigkeit und Sinnhattigkeit zu Tage, wie sie selten bei diesen Sonaten zu hören ist.«

[28.03.2023 JOURNAL FRANKFURT]

» ...Der Pianist lotet die einzelnen Stücke sehr differenziert aus, es lassen sich immer wieder

neue Feinheiten entdecken. «

[19.04.2023 APA AUSTRIAN PRESS AGENCY]

» … Gabriele Leporatti interpretiert Scarlattis Sonaten mit einer guten Mischung aus

rhythmisch-prägnantem, klarem Spiel …«

[17.05.2023 Ö1, SENDUNG DES CIS ÖSTERREICH]

CD-Aufnahme des Jahres 2023

»… Der Pianist bietet in diesen bezaubernden barocken Miniaturen eine kohärente

Interpretation mit minimalem Einsatz des Pedals, rhythmischer Genauigkeit, einer exakten

Palette dynamischer Nuancen und Klarheit des klanglichen Diskurses, wobei er die stark

verzierten melodischen und überraschenden harmonischen Modulationen der Sonaten von

Domenico Scarlatti hervorhebt.«

[31.10.2023 RADIO ROMANIA MUZICAL]

»… he consults Scarlatti’s own statements. According to these, the sonatas are not profound

compositions, but merely scherzos, witty musical jokes. With Leporatti, even in the slow

movements, melancholy takes on a small, contented smile …«

[02.03.2023 PIZZICATO LUXEMBURG]

“What do I love about Domenico Scarlatti? The joyous zest that he radiates, the incredible energy, the overflowing vitality and stylish verve – these are just a few characteristics of his ‘Sonate brillanti’. His sonatas are ‘haikus without words’, self-contained miniature stories that convey pearls of wisdom to our inner selves through simple everyday language. They are of the highest quality: succinct, absorbing, and complete in themselves.”

Ever since his early youth the pianist Gabriele Leporatti’s attention has been focused on Domenico Scarlatti, the compositional genius who was for him a pioneer, a trailblazer who - like Chopin and Debussy later – left far behind him the limitations and restricted capabilities of the instrument of his day: Scarlatti’s sonatas are impressive examples of originality and the spirit of his times.

Gabriele Leporatti, whose passionate interpretations are both beautiful and profound, meets with great acclaim, and not only from the critics. He grew up loving the recordings of the legendary Maria Tipo, whose pupil he later became. This ‘grande dame’ imparted to him the principles of her tonal and interpretative approach to Scarlatti: rhythm and imagination, delicacy and movement, accents and attention to every detail – these were for her, and became for Leporatti too, the essential criteria to penetrate to the heart of these compositions and, even more important, to reach into the essential character of their creator.

For his latest Etera Classics production Gabriele Leporatti has recorded a dozen little gems, carefully chosen according to a clear sequence of keys. Here the modern piano once again reveals itself to be more than just that anachronistically wonderful invention that overrides all the historical starting points. Scarlatti’s pieces were of course originally performed on a harpsichord or an early fortepiano, but the compressed substance of this music reaches out powerfully beyond the limits set by the era of their composition. A similar sensation might be felt by a painter finding that he has been given a sepia pen to paint with instead of his colour palette – even with that he is capable of great things, but behind it lies the true vision …

Eckardt van den Hoogen