Several discs of
Domenico Scarlatti sonatas played on the organ have appeared, and it's not clear why except that
Scarlatti is one of history's supreme keyboard composers, and organists naturally want a piece of the action. Several pieces of dubious evidence are adduced here. A Parisian publication of
Scarlatti apparently designated some of them as "pour le clavecin ou l'orgue," but this proves nothing except that music marketers then as now were intent on reaching the widest possible customer pool. It's true that
Bach often did not specify the instrument for which his keyboard works were intended, but
Bach and
Scarlatti worked in completely different contexts, and
Scarlatti did specify that his sonatas were written for a "gravicembalo," a "large keyboard instrument" that might be either a harpsichord or possibly an early piano, but not an organ. Anyway, the sharp, flashy contrasts of
Scarlatti's little sonatas generally do not come through well on an organ. Some on this disc actually succeed; the muted performance of the Sonata in F minor, K. 69 (track 5), is an expressive rendering of a slower, more extended piece that is reproduced in startling detail by the disc's SACD engineers. If you have a burning desire to hear
Scarlatti on an organ, pick this disc, but otherwise there are plenty of fine harpsichord recordings available.