Domenico Scarlatti, sixth of the famous Alessandro’s ten children, is best known today for his 555 single-movement keyboard sonatas. In 2016, Canadian virtuoso pianist and Baroque specialist Angela Hewitt recorded 16 of these for Hyperion to critical acclaim, and had such a great experience that, as she says in her liner notes, she couldn’t stop, “not with another 540 or so to choose from!” This new recording contains another 17 of Hewitt’s choosing, grouped according to similarities in temperament and key rather than chronologically.

 

With Hewitt as expert guide, the listener is taken on a structured journey through this immensely satisfying snapshot of Scarlatti’s oeuvre. His early life in Naples and Venice was followed by decades in Spain and Portugal in the service of their royal...