Written over a 46-year period, Claudio Santoro’s six piano sonatas document the evolution of his creative and formal skills – together they present a survey of the composer’s entire aesthetic development. Always radiating a forceful inner power and with expressive lyricism at their heart, the early sonatas explore twelvenote technique as a unifying element, transitioning to a distinctive Brazilian nationalist character by the Third and Fourth Sonatas. The Fifth Sonata, from the end of Santoro’s life, is a synthesis of the various idioms he had used over the decades. This is the first complete recording of Santoro’s piano sonatas, performed by the composer’s son, Alessandro Santoro.

This release joins three volumes of Claudio Santoro’s symphonies in this series, volume three of which (8574410) contains ‘powerful and strongly articulated pieces’ (MusicWeb International), while a further album with the Fantasias Sul América (8574407) received support from Gramophone: ‘it would be truly wonderful if these works could become more widely known as a consequence of such fine recordings’.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Alessandro Santoro has performed across Europe as a member of ensembles La Petite Bande and Orchestra of the 18th Century, and was founder of Den Haag Baroque Orchestra. His discography comprises 22 albums, with his release of works by Leclair, alongside Luís Otávio Santos and Ricardo Rodríguez Miranda, receiving a Diapason d’Or.