Dejan Lazic - Scarlatti, Bartók: Liaisons Vol. 1 (2018) [SACD]

At first sight, they appear to have nothing in common – but disregarding the stylistic elements and a difference of 2 centuries, you soon recognize that both are in a sense, musical architects, who as piano virtuosos were equally interested in miniature forms and inspired by folk music. On the one hand you have Scarlatti, who, after moving to Spain in 1729 composed almost exclusively for harpsichord and integrated elements of Spanish folklore into his compositions in an experimental way; on the other hand, Bartk, who boosted the recognition of the rich native Hungarian peasant songs to an independent folk art, and was also influenced by Arabic folk music. Inspired by an 18th century performance practice, where two (…)