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Are Scarlatti sonatas normally played 2 at a time? Because in diploma syllabuses, many time they say on repertoire lists: any two of following Scarlatti. Also, I have seen competition repertoire requirements that say things such as: Bach prelude and fugue or 2 Scarlatti sonatas. If the answer to my question is yes, then why?

Sorry I just realized I completely misread requirements. It says one of the following pairs of Scarlatti sonatas.

Edit: wait does this mean one pair of sonatas, or one sonata?

"One of the following pairs" means one pair, chosen from the following list of pairs. That would mean you couldn't mix and match sonatas between the pairs in the list.

Ok... So my first post remains an open question then thanks!

If you don't think that your question has been answered yet, well the answer is NO .

Scarlatti didn't compose his sonatas in pairs, and there's no reason why any pianist (or harpsichordist) would play them in pairs - and hardly anyone does. Unless required by exams, usually to stop students picking two slow easy ones....

They bear no resemblance to Bach's WTC at all.

I hate the use of this phrase. Why should a piece's tempo be an indicator of its difficulty?

Because Scarlatti's slow sonatas are almost always technically easy.

Technical complication is not the only factor in difficulty.

Scarlatti's keyboard music is musically straightforward. The slow ones aren't like Beethoven's Hammerklavier slow movement. Not even like the Moonlight - I.

There is a huge variety of interpretation possible in the slow ones, but that's not the same as being 'musically difficult'.

For what it's worth, my teacher once advised me not to play only one Scarlatti sonata in a concert as they are usually played in "groups".

Not all of it. And a lot of people manage to screw up music no matter how straightforward it is.

Well, in general it's not a good idea to program just two minutes of music by a composer in a full recital. There are exceptions, of course, but Scarlatti is not really one of them.

I screw the slow Scarlatti ones up all the time (partly because I tend to use them for sight-reading...... ).

Exactly.

So now let me ask a follow up question: I need to learn 60 minutes worth of music for a competition: I have 57-58. My teacher wants a Scarlatti sonata I think. Would you advise to just play one, or to "shorten" the time length we write for the other pieces by, say, 30 seconds each, to accommodate for two Scarlatti pieces? And if I even make the competition first round, I need the pieces by July, so I don't have much time

Many - probably most - concert pianists program them in odd-numbered selections, so that they can play fast-slow-fast-slow-fast in that order. You want to finish the group with a fast one, generally.

Like most piano sonatas.

Whatever you do, tell the truth about durations, or be prepared for them to call "time" before you get to the big finish.

What is the rest of your program?

I will list times along with repertoire so far:
Bach prelude and fugue in e major: 3:00
Beethoven sonata op 10 no 3
Mvmt 1- 5:00
Mvmt 2- 10:00
Haydn sonata hob xvi 50 complete- 15:00
Liszt hungarian rhapsody 8- 6:30
Chopin etude op 10 no 3- 4:30
Chopin ballade 3- 8:00
Prokofiev sonata 2 Mvmt 4- 4:30

I would get rid of the Liszt and finish the Beethoven. And I'd also replace the Prokofiev with something like the Opus 11 - partial sonatas are generally a bad idea.