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Scarlatti looks to strike out on his own in Rome, but will his famous father prove a help or a hindrance? Presented by Kate Molleson.

Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.

In today’s programme, Domenico Scarlatti tries his hand at opera, the art form that was fast making his father a household name among Italy’s musical elite. He scores a few success but is the theatre really where his future lies?

Amor d'un Ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura: Introduzione
Romabarocca Ensemble, directed by Lorenzo Tozzi

Amor d'un'Ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura: Duet, ‘Dio d'amor’… ‘Arcier fatale’
Emmanuelle de Negri, soprano (Eco)
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, countertenor (Narciso)
Le Caravansérail, directed by Bertrand Cuiller

O qual meco: Sinfonia & Aria, ‘Per che non dirmial meno’
Cyrille Gerstenhaber, soprano
XVIII-21 Musique Des Lumières, directed by Jean-Christophe Frisck

Sonata in Dm, K 32
Sonata in C, K 308
Sonata in Gm, K196
Lucas Debargue, piano

Scarlatti, D: Tolomeo et Alessandro ovvero La corona disprezzata (Act 1 opening)
Ann Hallenberg, mezzo-soprano (Tolomeo)
Raffaella Milanesi, soprano (Alessandro)
Il Complesso Barocco, directed by Alan Curtis