I purchased this set after reading the generally favorable reviews noted above. After doing so, I compared the recordings against the three disc Ross anthology that I already owned. Although I found the Belder performances decent, and comparable to Ross, the sound quality was horrible, particularly for a relatively new recording. The sound is distant, as if a curtain had been placed between the harpsichord and the microphone, which is a shame given the quality of the performance. It really suffers in comparison to the Ross. I have subsequently bought the entire Ross set, and am very happy with it. I had paid $78 for Belder and $138 for the Ross, and feel the difference in price well worth it. My general rule of thumb with Brilliant Classics has been to go for recordings they have licensed from other publishers, and avoid their own productions (the Bach complete set (particularly the cantatas)) being a notable exception. Anyway, I would suggest not buying this set unless you cannot come up with another $60."
Eight years of artistry
drollere | Sebastopol, CA United States | 10/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"over the years i have become so interested in domenico scarlatti that i finally decided a complete edition was necessary. on the piano, naxos is slowly building one around the interesting if unwieldy concept of enlisting 30 or more young artists to complete the traversal. on harpsichord, there is the series by scott ross, now apparently out of print, and this new edition by pieter-jan belder.
recorded from 2000 to 2007, strictly following the sequence of ralph kirkpatrick catalog numbers, the mere achievement boggles the mind. so it is a triple pleasure to discover marvelous musicianship, splendid production values, and a stupefyingly low market price (yes, that's $3 a disc, more or less). the project is such a rare convergence of artistry, craftsmanship, integrity and vitality that one can hardly believe it was completed in the century of arrogance, incompetence and greed.
i have not yet auditioned every disc, but my random sampling suggests the engineering and production are exceptionally consistent. the sound stage places belder's instrument close to the listener, but without distortion. to provide some aural variety and historical interest, belder has used "every harpischord i could lay my hands on" -- which actually only includes modern copies of instruments by giusti, ruckers, mietke, zell and others. he even performs several of the sonatas on a fortepiano (which was invented in 1711 and available to scarlatti both in italy and in spain), an organ, or as trios with a baroque violinist and bassist. despite this variety, all the harpsichords have a pleasant timbre without either wiry thinness or clangorous weight, and it is extremely interesting to hear some of the sonatas in the nasal tones of an early pianoforte.
belder's performances are idiomatic and alert, with appropriate but not excessive ornamentation, and generally very well judged tempi, though he avoids the riotously fast tempi sometimes adopted by modern players. interpretively he strikes the balance necessary for such a long journey -- neither as fiery as pierre hantai nor as cerebral as gustav leonhardt, and with an informed sense of what baroque listeners valued in a harpsichord performance -- and there is plenty of life, pleasure and even wit in his recreations. a delight to encounter ... even if it takes eight years to listen to them all!"
Here's a Treasure Chest!
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 05/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The five stars are provisional. This is a serious "heads up" notice, not a review. Pieter Jan Belder is a masterful harpsichordist, a protege of the great Dutch keyboardist Bob van Asperen. Belder is the harpsichordist on many of the disks of the Brilliant Classics Complete Bach Edition.
For a mere $70.00, I'm about to acquire a lifetime supply of miniature masterpieces, the complete harpsichord sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. If I listen to one a day, hearing it three or four times, I'm sure it will do more for my retirement well-being than Prozac, Coumadin, Flomax, Ginko Biloba, and multi-vitamins all together. Huzzah!"
Great performance - excellent value for money
Johan Hoffman | Belgium, EU | 08/24/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Scarlatti, born in the same year as J.S. Bach, court composer at the Spanish court, left a body of keyboard work, mainly harpsichord sonatas, of excellent quality and comparable in volume to JS Bach's harpsichord and organ works combined. Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas are short pieces (3-5 minutes in most cases) with a mixture of Italian and Spanish style elements, and covering the full range from slow, emotional movements to highly technical, virtuoso pieces. Only a very limited number of complete recordings has ever been recorded, the one by Scott Ross being the most famous.
This recording by Pieter-Jan Belder is comparable in quality to Ross' recording: in both cases one hears performances of very high artistic integrity, with the harpsichord player having come to grip with one of the great works of art, bringing the music to life with very honest and personal interpretations. There are marked differences in interpretation between both artists, but in both cases the artist puts the music first; both use their considerable technical abilities at the service of the music and don't make a fireworks showcase.
Having listened to both recordings, I don't have a real artistic preference for one or the other when considering the complete cycle.
On the technical level, both recordings are very well made. Personally I slightly prefer the clear, crisp sound of the Belder recording (the result of putting some more distance between microphones and instrument ?) over the somewhat denser sound of the Ross recording.
At less than 2 Euro per disk, the Belder recording offers an exceptional quality/price ratio."
Scarlatti sonatas by Pieter jan belder
r.b. | Great Britain | 06/08/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Pieter Jan Belder's 2000/2007 recording of Domenico Scarlatti's complete sonatas invites comparison with the Scott Ross complete set from 1984/85.
I own both of them and if i'm honest there is little between them.Both play with great skill and avoid the turbo injected speeds which some players adopt.In some sonatas i prefer Belder and in other Ross but the difference is marginal.They both play in a refreshingly straightforward manner with no eccentrics and just let the music pretty much speak for itself - in other words they put Scarlatti first and only serve the music.This is the hallmark of REAL professional harpsichordists.
As for sound,again in some discs i prefer Belder's sonics and in others Ross.Sometimes Belder has a little too much reverb and sometimes Ross is too closely miked.
My recommendation is to listen for the sound samples and judge accordingly.
I believe the Belder recording's are still available in seperate volumes if there are certain discs you like better than others."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
