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Scarlatti Recital : 15 Sonatas for Harpsichord Albert Fuller A Scarlatti Recital: Albert Fuller Plays Fifteen Sonatas. Albert Fuller, harpsichord. (Helicon HE 1038) Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) composed more than 500 sonatas for the harpsichord—nearly all of which are single movements in binary form—that were among the first to explore almost every aspect of modern keyboard technique. They convey unique charm and vitality. This marvelously engaging 1998 Helicon recording of 15 diverse sonatas is an ideal introduction to the art of harpsichordist Albert Fuller. His playing is delightfully fanciful, and the sound of his Dowd harpsichord is realistically conveyed in an agreeable acoustic setting. Albert Fuller (see Juilliard Portraits on page 00) has been teaching harpsichord at Juilliard for 39 years; he simultaneously taught organ for 11 years. Fuller, who studied harpsichord with Ralph Kirkpatrick and theory with Hindemith, joined the Juilliard faculty in 1964. Founder of the Aston Magna Festival in 1972, he is currently music director of the Helicon Ensemble. This past June, two of Fuller’s earlier CDs, consisting of music for harpsichord by J. S. Bach and Rameau, were reissued as a two-disc set sold for the price of one (Reference Recordings RR-2105). Fuller’s playing is the antithesis of metronomic, “sewing machine” Bach, where one places one’s foot on the treadle and pedals away with mechanical regularity. Fuller scrupulously avoids romanticizing the music, but is not reluctant to employ pronounced agogic accents, rubato, hesitations, and ritards to clarify or underline a phrase—as if to compensate for the limitations the harpsichord places on the performer’s ability to vary the touch and dynamics. In Bach’s Italian Concerto, French Suite No. 6, six selections from the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook, and two Preludes and Fugues from Book 2 of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Fuller’s playing is highly colorful and always thought-provoking. The same applies to his piquant readings of Rameau’s Suite in A and eight Pièces de Clavecin. In another recent 2-CD album, Baroque Favorites, Fuller can be heard as harpsichordist leading his Helicon Ensemble in chamber works and violin concertos by Vivaldi and Bach (Reference Recordings RR-2101). 1. Sonata for keyboard in D major, K. 53 (L. 261) 2. Sonata for keyboard in B minor, K. 87 (L. 33) 3. Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 211 (L. 133) 4. Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 212 (L. 135) 5. Sonata for keyboard in D minor, K. 213 (L. 108) "The Lover" 6. Sonata for keyboard in D major, K. 214 (L. 165) 7. Sonata for keyboard in B minor, K. 197 (L. 147) 8. Sonata for keyboard in A minor, K. 382 (L. S33) 9. Sonata for keyboard in E major, K. 206 (L. 257) 10. Sonata for keyboard in G minor, K. 234 (L. 49) 11. Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 268 (L. 41) 12. Sonata for keyboard in F minor, K. 69 (L. 382) 13. Sonata for keyboard in F major, K. 296 (L. 198) 14. Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 269 (L. 307) 15. Sonata for keyboard in D major, K. 299 (L. 210) Publisher/Manufacturer: Helicon Records Imprint: Helicon Cover: HE 1038 ISBN/ID: 060550103828 onhand: 1 Price: $ 13.99