And Naxos keeps pulling young keyboard comers out of the woodwork. The label’s eighth Scarlatti sonata volume showcases Soyeon Lee, who won Concert Artist Guild’s 2004 International Competition as well as the Cleveland International Piano Competition. As a Scarlatti player, Lee’s centered and secure virtuosity doesn’t match the ravishing colors and uncanny timing I cherish via Horowitz, Pletnev, Sudbin, and Scherbakov. The recording’s slightly glassy piano tone partly accounts for this, along with Lee’s tendency toward blandness in slower, longer selections (the well-known B minor K. 87, for example). Still, there’s much to enjoy, such as K. 441’s upbeat delivery and terraced dynamics on echoed phrases, trills that strut their stuff in the oft-played D major K. 96, and a beautifully spun rendition of the delicate K. 485. All in all, the best of what Lee offers here certainly makes me want to check out more of her work, either on disc or in concert.
