Search - Cyril Scott, Leslie De'Ath, Anya Alexeyev :: Cyril Scott: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 3

A box of delights

Dr. Richard M. Price | London, UK | 02/08/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another attractive collection of Cyril Scott's engaging and undemanding pieces for piano, including some early unpublished pieces and the virtually unknown pieces for two pianos. The programme begins with `Russian Fair', a six-minute romp that Grainger would have been proud of. The substantial Theme and Variations for Two Pianos shows more textural inventiveness than we usually find in Scott's piano music and is a good (though not outstanding) example of his middle period. The solo pieces are delectably varied. The set of five pieces entitled `Egypt', and dedicated engagingly to `Marie Russack, that enlightened seer who brought back for me the memory of my past Egyptian lives', is an excellent example of the rather cold exoticism that was central to Scott's musical personality, and the recital ends with three concert pieces that would make ideal encores. De'Ath's playing is always idiomatic and sympathetic to Scott's idiom, while the recording has both warmth and clarity. None of the music is Scott at his very best, but it was pieces like these that had most impact on his contemporaries, and those who have already explored, say, the piano concertos and piano sonatas will certainly enjoy the wide range of genre and atmosphere in this new collection."