Well-characterised music-making which effortlessly reaches beyond virtuosity -
"Teatro Imaginario' ('Imaginary Theatre') is the title Patrice Mathews has given her disc of Scarlatti sonatas, and it fits. Mathews interprets each of these 15 sonatas as a brief but richly detailed character study. And what a cast of lovable eccentrics we are presented with: the flighty, chatty flirt of Kk24, the pensive philosopher of Kk147, the exotic, swashbuckling hero of Kk239. Mathews manages to squeeze every drop of drama out of the music without rhythmic fussiness. Silences crackle with anticipation, rhythms are both supple and snappy, and she displays an acute sensitivity to texture and harmony throughout. Listen, for example, to the crunching bass chords of Kk487, or to the way she savours the gentle dissonances created by the counterpoint in Kk151. Scarlatti sonatas are often treated as mere virtuoso showpieces, it's refreshing to hear a programme like this, where I was so cuaght up in the music that I didn't even think to gawk at the performer's digital dexterity. I have a slight reservation about the recorded sound, which has admirable presence but just a bit too much resonance given that the microphone seems placed so close to the instrument. This is a very minor drawback, though, and one that can easily overlooked given that Mathews' playing provides so much pleasure. Very strongly recommended.
Andrew Farach-Colton
Gramophone - June 2003
"Patrice Mathews offers a finely gauged program of Scarlatti sonatas, containing more than a few lesser-known pieces alongside some of the more familiar ones...[Y]ou may find in this recital a more pensive, emotionally ambivalent composer than we have come to expect, and for that reason alone Mathews is certainly worth hearing."
David Hurwitz,
ClassicsToday.com
As soloist and chamber musician, Patrice Mathews is widely known in the field of Early Music, and her playing is noted for its fluency and emotional power. Mathews studied piano with Sylvia Ghiglieri, Witold Malcuzynski, Lilian Kallir and Lee Luvisi, and attended the Mannes College of Music in New York, where she freelanced as an accompanist. Her interest in Baroque music led her to the historically-informed San Francisco area. She studied harpsichord with John Gibbons and Laurette Goldberg while obtaining her master's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory. Teatro Imaginario is her first solo harpsichord recording.
