This third volume in Chandos’ ongoing Cyril Scott edition is just as good as the previous ones, and if you enjoyed them you’ll need no further prompting from me. The music was all composed between 1902 and 1925, and it’s all of a piece: lush, exotic, richly scored, but basically diatonic–sort of sanitized, G-rated Scriabin. This doesn’t mean that Scott’s output is not enjoyable; indeed it is, highly so in the case of Olivier Charlier’s sympathetic account of the Violin Concerto. The Three Symphonic Dances, revised from the Second Symphony, also deserve an outing in live concerts, where they surely would find an appreciative audience. And if perhaps the idiom could do with a greater sense of danger and a more questing spirit, at least Scott’s exuberant use of the orchestra makes substantial amends. Given the high quality of the performances–and fine sonics–this is self-recommending to anyone interested in strikingly vivid late-Romantic music. [6/18/2007]
