Wake me when it's over
Classic Music Lover | Maryland, USA | 05/06/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This is a reissue of recordings made about 25 years ago. At the time, Cyril Scott's music wasn't in vogue, but today his exotic late romanticism/impressionism is popular again. In the First Piano Concerto especially, the pianist and conductor linger over every phrase, treating the work like an exotic hothouse flower. Atmospheric perhaps, but it destroys the structure of the piece, especially in the two outer movements. A newer recording on Chandos by Howard Shelley and Martyn Brabbins is so much more revealing -- while shaving fully five minutes off the performance length. (The 2nd movement does benefit from Ogdon's longeurs, however.) The Second Piano Concerto gives us more of the same treatment, but not to quite the same degree."
An almost perfect recording
L. Ackerman | Ashburn, VA (USA) | 06/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you like Debussy and Delius at their most exotic, you'll love this. Especially because the performances are outstanding and the sound is Lyrita at its best: sumptous."