SOLER, A.: Sonatas for Harpsichord, Vol. 11

Album review

Padre Antonio Soler was a Catalan monk who studied with Domenico Scarlatti and wrote harpsichord music that extended Scarlatti's language. Some of his 120-odd surviving sonatas follow Scarlatti closely, with compact binary forms and such effects as emulation of Spanish guitar styles. But Soler, a generation younger, struck out in new directions -- not just because he had his own musical personality, as harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland says in the notes to this disc, but because he was trying to reconcile the Scarlattian language with the limpid galant style that was on the rise. Soler's music is generally more difficult for the player than Scarlatti's music, and in places it's quite spectacular even if Soler was caught in something of a historical dead end.
The present disc is one installment in a complete set of Soler harpsichord sonatas being issued by the indefatigable folks at Naxos. If it is possible to describe any harpsichord playing as in-your-face, that of British harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland qualifies, from the very first abrupt chord heard on this recording. His full-bore approach has admirers and detractors in equal measure, but there's a good case to be made that it's ideal for Soler. Consider the massive 11-minute Sonata No. 22 in D flat major on this disc, a parade of virtuoso effects that Rowland executes with aplomb on his loud, metallic Flemish instrument. The subtler style of a Pierre Hantaï would seem overwrought here.
One complaint is that Rowland has not divided up Soler's output in any meaningful way; each disc in his series is much like the others. The program on each individual disc, however, makes good sense: he performs certain sonatas in pairs (probably what was intended for both Scarlatti and Soler) and offers a mix of shorter and longer, multi-movement works. The four-movement Sonata No. 62 in B flat that concludes this disc is from Mozart's era, and it's an uncomfortable hybrid indeed -- but that is not Rowland's doing. There is another complete set of Soler sonatas by harpsichordist Bob van Asperen on the Astrée label; listeners uncomfortable with Rowland's flashy readings may wish to sample that series for comparison.

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