It's a bit daft of Erato to label this disc ''Unpublished sonatas'' when the publishers of eight of the present 14 are actually listed: if they meant 'recently discovered sonatas', why not say so? Apart from this, however, a certain scepticism is called for by the claim that these are by Scarlatti. A few may well be by him; the majority, to differing extents, are of doubtful authenticity; about three are most unlikely to be his. Can I make clear which is which, when of course they all fall outside the (already confusing) four different numbering systems (Longo, Kirkpatrick, Pestelli and Fadini)? 'Probables' are Henle's D major, which is a shorter version of the well-known cheerfully athletic Kk96, an engaging 'Lisbon' A major and two sonatas in the Catalonian Library (both with some typical key-shifts) that were once arranged by Granados.
The most convincing 'possibles' are the robustly exuberant Yale C major (which some experts attribute to Soler) and three sonatas (two of them longer than usual) found in Valladolid and published by UME in Madrid. The Fandango has been worked up by the player here from a sketch (an impression of Scarlatti's improvisation?) in a private collection in Tenerife: shorter than the famous example attributed to Soler but closely resembling it in style. It is played with tremendous gusto—like everything else on this disc—on a Blanchet copy by Mayako Sone, a young harpsichordist who is making quite a name for herself. Her experience as a continuo player (she is, among other things, a member of the Israel Chamber Orchestra) has doubtless been a contributory factor in her splendidly strong rhythmic sense; and her crisp articulation is a pleasure to hear. Regardless of the genuineness or not of these pieces, this is a very attractive disc.'