Search - Sophie Yates :: Fandango: Scarlatti in Iberia

Great exploration of Iberian pre-classical music.

Pete Flowers | Oakland, CA USA | 07/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sophie Yates plays the music of Scarlatti and his associates marvelously. The selection of pieces is quite good, but everything else is shadowed by Antonio Soler's mesmerizing Fandango. Anyone who is familiar with this piece will understand immediately why it dominates the record. For those unfamiliar with Fandango, it is a must-hear piece. Based on folkloric sources, Fandango moves to ever increasing tension, never really hitting a climax, but leading the listener into musical worlds that were psychedelic before the term. Antonio Soler was a monk priest at the Escorial and had a keen interest in science as well as music. His fandango is probably the best known, and Yates does it tremendous justice. While nothing else rises to the level of excitement of Fandango (how could it), the rest of the album is highly enjoyable. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes harpsichord or Spanish music, as it is clearly Iberian in character."