Scarlatti, Cage: Sonatas review – 'each highlights the freedom and invention of the other'

Most piano recitals require one instrument. The Israeli pianist David Greilsammer needs two for this programme of Domenico Scarlatti alternating with John Cage, which Greilsammer first performed live in Paris in 2009 and has now recorded. Cage's Sonatas and Interludes demand a prepared piano – with bolts, screws, elastic bands and the like – and the exotic, percussive sounds make an arresting contrast to the Scarlatti, each highlighting the freedom and invention of the other. Taken alone, Greilsammer's Scarlatti might appear too mannered, but here the contrasts create aural fireworks. Italian baroque and New York avant garde face up to one another like lion and tamer, with fascinating results.