Cimarosa - Keyboard Sonatas Nos. 1-44

Domenico Cimarosa's 88 sonatas for keyboard exist only in non autograph manuscript form and their dates of composition are uncertain. Because of their brevity - some are just a page, or even a few bars long - a number of these sonatas are like sketches, finished in themselves yet open to possible further development. Using his own ordering of the first 44 sonatas (the remaining 44 will follow on a second CD) Dario Candela's performance emphasises their contrast and lyricism. His elegant use of the piano's timbres and dynamic resources never descends into self-indulgence; he adopts an approach that is both gently detached and quite enchanting.

The effect is like being transported to Cimarosa's private study during the composition of the works. Composer and performer win the listener over by persuasion, not force. These sonatas certainly warrant a place in the repertoire of today's performers.