The story of a keyboard virtuoso born centuries too soon.
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Hosted, written and edited by Robert Fleitz - @RobertFleitz https://www.instagram.com/rfleitz/
🧠FEATURING🧠
Magdalena Stern-Baczewska @magdalenaNYC
Jeffrey Arlo Brown https://www.jeffreyarlobrown.com/
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You’ve heard of Bach and Handel—but what about the other genius born in 1685? Domenico Scarlatti wrote over 555 sonatas—short, eccentric, and packed with wild leaps, crunchy dissonances, and flamenco-inspired rhythms that still sound radical today.
In this video, we explore Scarlatti’s daring keyboard innovations, his cosmopolitan influences from Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and how his music became the foundation for legendary performances by pianists like Vladimir Horowitz, Martha Argerich, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Béla Bartók, and Glenn Gould. We also dive into the challenges of interpreting Scarlatti today—how early editors misunderstood his harmonies, how Ralph Kirkpatrick’s catalog revived his legacy, and why his sonatas remain both fascinating and difficult to program.
With insights from pianist/harpsichordist Magdalena Stern-Baczewska, journalist Jeffrey Arlo Brown, and tonebase artist Claire Huangci, we uncover what makes Scarlatti’s music so special—and why you need to hear it.
⌛CHAPTERS⌛
0:00 The Class of 1685
0:20 he really didn't care.
1:40 A world of music
2:09 Argerich, Michelangeli, Horowitz (and Gould?)
3:18 What to make of Scarlatti?
4:01 How far is too far?
4:58 A travel diary of Scarlatti’s life
5:32 🌎 Act I: Italy 🇮🇹
6:46 The sounds of Venice
7:24 Scarlatti at the Vatican
8:20 K.87, Horwitz, and polyphony
9:29 Ideas to burn 🔥
10:36 🌎 Act II: Portugal 🇵🇹
11:06 Maria Barbara and Scarlatti’s radical beginnings
12:06 Programming Scarlatti
13:41 Scarlatti and Contemporary Music
14:40 Bartok’s inspiration
15:06 🌎 Act III: Spain 🇪🇸
15:45 K.492 and the Spanish influence
16:49 Keep it wild!
17:25 K.208, Farinelli and the singing line
18:57 K.146 and the freedom to explore
19:27 K.141 Gilels VS Argerich
19:53 Schumann, Chopin and the Scarlatti legacy
20:56 The joy of discovery ✨
22:38 Holding back is a disservice!
23:38 The spirit of having fun
24:04 tonebase!
🎹PERFORMANCES🎹
K.157, Elaine Comparone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71iUAFFQ8ik
K.96, Andrew Tyson (tonebase recording)
K.114, Tanja Holz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EnDaXip8c
K.380, Ben Laude (tonebase recording)
K.430, Glenn Gould https://youtu.be/5nN8DQSAwlI?feature=shared
K.39, Federico Colli https://youtu.be/Z6m_MI5pHSk?feature=shared
K.96, Andrew Tyson (tonebase recording)
K.87, Vladimir Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd0TRy41Fxg
K.253, Lucas Debargue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaSVLZcKeA
K.46, your humble host Robert Fleitz 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTUqMoBRn4
K.159, Tiffany Poon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNOFXNqd--A
K.62, Luca Guglielmi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pE6MEEr6nk
Ligeti Hungarian Rock, Ying-Hsueh Chen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUhj6tPdoI4
K.427, Bela Bartok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S63HpAmCt0
K.492 & 146, Pierre Hantaï https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Nxrlvo_Qk
K.175, Jean Rondeau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF3p4pGd838
K.208, Maria João Pires https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JwVCBFAVwA
K.16, Ralph Kirkpatrick https://youtu.be/g8FpUf-D4Ew?feature=shared
K.1, Ivo Pogorelich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8zKNsep1M
🎥SOURCES🎥
Jeff Brown’s Full Article in VAN Magazine https://van-magazine.com/mag/scarlatti-sonatas-ranked/
Malcolm Boyd and Roberto Pagano, “Scarlatti” in Oxford Music Online
Gerhard Doderer, “Scarlatti and the Portuguese Connection”
Eiji Hashimoto, “The Keyboard Works of Domenico Scarlatti”
Balázs Mikusi, “Bartók and Scarlatti: A Study of Motives and Influence”
Ralph Kirkpatrick, “Scarlatti” in Encyclopedia Brittanica
Ralph Kirkpatrick, “Scarlatti” (1953)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM1hQr9UR7Y
Marco Tamayo’s tonebase course “Rasgueados”
Ben Laude’s tonebase course
Claire Huangci’s tonebase course
Also featuring clips from the films Your Name (2016), Ratatouille (2007), God Rot Tunbridge Wells! (1985) and Rick Steves' Europe.
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