Recording the "The
Complete Sonatas" of this or that
composer is far from unusual. Sadly
the claim to completeness is often based
on insufficient research. Even before
the acclaimed "Complete Bax Piano
Sonatas" had been published half
a year or so ago (Oehms), Michael Schäfer
recorded a volume of Scott piano works,
apparently unaware of the Leslie De’Ath
venture (Dutton) in which the sonatas
were issued only just before the Schäfer
recordings were completed.
The first thing you
notice with this Genuin disc is the
omission of the early Sonata in D major
Op. 17. This was never published during
Scott’s lifetime and thus may have been
thought to have been withdrawn by the
composer.
So what exactly do
we have on the Schäfer CD? We find
the three full-size sonatas and five
shorter pieces. Refreshingly the latter
avoid the best-known Cyril Scott (Lotus-Land
or Pierrot-Pierrette) but offer
- initially to German listeners - compositions
of considerable substance which afford
a deeper insight into a composer who
in Germany remained largely unknown
until the present author’s contribution
to the Lexikon des Klaviers (Laaber,
2006).
The famous Op. 66 sonata
(1909) is performed with plenty of attention
to nuance and, it seemed to me, more
warmth than De’Ath. Dennis Hennig (Etcetera)
has in comparison the disadvantage of
a more metallic-sounding piano. Preferences
between these alternative recordings
depend on taste - though I must admit
that I would like to know which version
of the sonata was actually recorded
– this is not conveyed in the Schäfer
booklet notes.
The Second Sonata in
one continuous movement (1932) displays,
as does the first, more urgency than
De’Ath’s version. And the mysterious
beginning of Sonata III (1956) has an
additional component of disquiet added
to the vast harmonic and metrical range.
This may however be more expressively
displayed by De’Ath and Raphael Terroni
- the latter in a BMS recording of 1981
sadly not yet reissued on CD. A comparison
of the durations of the few recordings
is telling:-
| |
Schäfer |
De’Ath |
Hennig |
Terroni |
Sonata Op. 66 |
22:14 |
28:18 |
20:59 |
|
Second Sonata |
14:33 |
18:27 |
|
|
Sonata III |
17:15 |
18:17 |
|
26:00 |
After the substantial
sonatas the five smaller pieces have
been carefully chosen from Scott’s vast
œuvre. The Egyptophile-impressionist
Sphinx of 1907 is much more impressionist
than with De’Ath. The famous 1916 Rainbow
Trout in direct comparison with
Scott’s own interpretation of 1928,
reissued in vol. 1 of the Dutton series,
is much more convincingly silvery-slippery.
The 1918 neo-classicist Rondeau de
Concert has much more legato than
with De’Ath. A Ballad of 1920
has not yet been released by De’Ath.
The late Victorian Waltz of 1963
is Scott’s last completed piano composition,
an enchanting, "old-fashioned"
miniature full of valedictory feelings.
Schäfer, a professor
at the Munich Conservatoire, proves
with this collection, and with the last
piece as well as with much else on this
CD, to be completely au fait
with Scott’s compositional style; more,
his interpretations are full of charm
and grace. At times he is perhaps somewhat
less sharp-edged than some, but this
remains an excellent introduction to
the music of Scott.
The honestly recorded
sound from Bavarian Radio and acceptable
booklet notes complete a strongly recommendable
CD.
Jürgen Schaarwächter
for details
Michael Schäfer (piano). 
