Two scintillating Scarlatti sonatas taken from his very interesting collection on his new CD.They opened the programme by the 23 year old Italian pianist Andrea Molteni to be streamed at a later date for the Keyboard Charitable Trust from Steinway Hall.
Luigi Dallapiccola’s impish Sonata Canonica based on Paganini’s Caprices was his eclectic choice and was played with astonishing clarity of brilliance and contrasts.
But this was just the preparation for a monumental performance of Beethoven’s daunting ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata.It was played with such resilience and sterling musicianship.A technical command where all the treacherous difficulties that Beethoven demands were met with such clarity and fearless command.From the opening leaps played with enviable assurance by one hand through the quixotic Scherzo and the deep meditation of the Adagio,one of Beethoven’s most poignant almost operatic statements.But it was the fugue that astonished and amazed for it relentless drive with all the many hurdles that Beethoven throws in the path .A veritable challenge to all those that dare to enter in a movement almost at the limit of technical possibility that Andrea met with fearless abandon.
He even had the energy for an encore after almost forty minutes with the most thought provoking and transcendentally difficult of all Beethoven’s thirty two sonatas.
A sparkling performance of his favourite Scarlatti sonata taken from his CD collection which is receiving high critical acclaim.
The booklet that accompanies this new CD contains a very interesting discussion with Leslie Howard on the authenticity of improvisation and ornamentation that Scarlatti would have expected from the performer .We we’re privileged to have the conversation live at the end of this concert that will be streamed and made available by the Keyboard Trust at a later date.