This is a fascinating compilation of Scarlatti sonatas which Wanda Landowska recorded in 1934, 1939 and 1940. And it is accompanied by an equally fascinating and informative note by LS. He writes ''what shine through the playing of this apparently fragile (but in fact tough and determined) virtuoso... are her musicality, vitality, incisiveness, rhythmic control and a concentration that enabled her to continue unperturbed even when anti-aircraft guns thundered outside (as they did during Kk490 here)''. Of the composer, Landowska herself wrote, ''I am very sensitive to Scarlatti's bucolic mind, to his rustic jauntiness: I like these winged rhythms that do not touch the ground: I also like the elemental strength and the richness of his rhythmical power, as well as all that is Moorish in him... He has the genuine nobility, the heroism and the audacity of a Don Quixote.''Well, if all that doesn't whet your appetite and arouse your curiosity, then probably nothing else will; certainly not the harpsichord itself, with its array of pedals—used to startling effect in the celebrated E major Sonata (Kk380/L23)—metallic timbre and variable recorded balance. Landowska had the monster built in 1912 and its sound is that which we might reasonably call the 'Landowska sound', so distinctive is it.
Almost needless to say, the playing is full of vigorous gestures and individual ideas. She was no respecter of text and there are little repeats here and there which are no more indicated than they are necessary. Yet such matters seem something of an irrelevance, since they only reflect an attitude of the time adopted by a celebrated pioneer of the harpsichord revival in the twentieth century. No, what charms me in Landowska's recital is her affecting poetic insight into Scarlatti's music; she is not just rediscovering the proper conjunction of composer and instrument, she believes in it and feels it intensely. Her playing of the sadly expressive G minor Sonata (Kk8) provides a touching instance of this; but there is little or nothing to disappoint any listener of an enquiring, open-minded disposition.
Even the sound of the harpsichord itself, once your ear has become acquainted with it, seems peculiarly suited to convey the exoticism present in the 'Moorish' side of Scarlatti's art. A precious and memorable reissue and not least, perhaps, for the thunderous gunfire in Kk490—a veritable 1812!'