Having dedicated his first two albums for Arcana to Johann Sebastian Bach (Little Books, A480) and Georg Friedrich Handel (Winged Hands, A499), Francesco Corti turns to Domenico Scarlatti, the third great keyboardist of the 1685 generation. For this recording, he selected a group of sonatas copied in the years 1752 and 1753, strictly organised in pairs. Concentrating on works from the same period, it showcases the composer’s extraordinary ability to stretch the boundaries of the sonata form and to extensively elaborate his thematic material. Instrumental virtuosity and an experimental approach to the harpsichord sound go hand in hand with an astonishing formal freedom, combined with a playful sense of structure and expectation. Corti has chosen to perform these sonatas on a Humeau harpsichord, a copy of Italian models (courtesy of Bertrand Cuiller), and record them at the Royaumont Abbey.
Works:
•Dufay: Apostolo glorioso
•Dufay: Ce jour de l'an
•Dufay: Ecclesiae militantis
•Dufay: Entre vous, gentils amoureux
•Dufay: Estrinez moy, je vous estrineray
•Dufay: Et pour certain
•Dufay: Je me complains piteusement
•Dufay: Je requier a tous amoureux
•Dufay: Je vous pri
•Dufay: Las, que feray?
•Dufay: Mon bien, m'amour
•Dufay: O sancte Sebastiane
•Dufay: Portugaler
•Dufay: Puisque vous estez campieur
•Dufay: Quel fronte signorille in paradiso
•Dufay: Resveilliés vous et faites chiere lye
•Dufay: Salve flos Tusce gentis
•Dufay: Se la face ay pale
•Dufay: Se la phase pale (Buxheimer Orgelbuch)
•Dufay: Vasilissa, Ergo Gaude
•Dufay: Vergene bella