Erik Satie (1866-1925) occupies a unique place in the musical pantheon, eschewing all artifice and show, stripping his compositions back to the bare essentials and creating a world of calm and order (he called it “music without sauerkraut”). His Trois Gymnopédies (1888) and Six Gnossiennes (1889-97) are popular examples of his style, played here with unremarkable simplicity (for there is no other way to play them) by the Russian-born pianist Olga Scheps. More interesting are the Trois Sarabandes (1887), particularly the example in F minor, made almost entirely of a luminous, graceful chord progression. Scheps conjures this otherworld with admirable poise but, given the material, the temperature of this recording rarely rises above blood level.
Satie: Piano Works CD review – admirable poise
Stephen Pritchard
Olga Scheps (piano)
(RCA Red Label)
(RCA Red Label)
Contributor
Stephen Pritchard
Stephen Pritchard has written on classical music for most of his 45 years in journalism. He was the Observer's first readers' editor, and prior to that was a managing editor and production editor
Stephen Pritchard
The GuardianTramp
