|
On This Album
Satie was a French/Scot who was born in 1866 and died in 1925. He was – if you will – Eccentric with a cap E. But his music stands by itself as creations of simplicity and effortless joy. Just as Debussy and Ravel were reactions against Wagner, Satie was a reaction against them. Impressionism was not on his musical palette. The very titles of his works – Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear, A Bureaucratic Sonatine – typically exemplify Satie’s work. The program note writer for this set – Ornella Volta – says with both poetry and accuracy that, … many pianists have turned to the music of this odd composer, who appeals less to any virtuoso technique than to a certain state of mind in the interpreter. To judge by the increasingly wide audiences that Satie has gained through recordings, it is clear that this is a particularly suitable medium for hearing his unique music, which seems to speak to one listener at a time. Since many – if not most! – Pianists are by definition virtuosi it is not hard to understand why Satie was all but forgotten in the last hundred years. The first recording of his work – according to these notes – was in 1950 by no less than Frances Poulenc who was a friend of Satie. In the seventies and eighties Aldo Ciccolini recorded almost all of Satie for VSM, some of which are still available on CD. It was good to have because of its completeness but I for one never savored the playing which was far too percussive for the music. Now we have Thibaudet who plays with velvet paws. It is ‘easy’ music to play. That is to say it is very difficult to play, if you get my meaning. Later this year Decca promises a complete set of Satie with Thibaudet and I shall look forward to it for this pianist has the feeling and poetry to make Satie’s little dreams come true. By the way: The Eighth Gymnopédie is recorded here for the first time. Excellent piano and matching sound.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
©
Copyright 2002 Classical Music Guide, All rights reserved
Site maintained by Elysium Webs |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
Magic of Satie
