Customer Reviews

Satie: Popular Piano Works

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are several CDs available covering Saties music and I have heard most of them, if not all.

This version has always been my favorite. I bought, and still have, the vinyl version of this. In fact I bought it twice since I once carelessly scratched an album.

No fireworks or false colorations, just pure Satie channeled thru Signore Ciccolini. Bravo!!

I have several versions of Satie's piano music and this one is one of my favorites. Aldo Ciccolini is an outstanding interpreter and performer of Satie's piano works and he plays with the right tempo, balance, and touch. The most well-known of Satie's piano works are the 3 Trois Gymnopedies, and Ciccolini plays these pieces with the right tempo and delicate touch.

The other works are worth listening to. I really enjoy the Six Gnossiennes and the Trois Nocturnes as well. This recording is very generous, offering the following pieces: (I've included the total time for each work)

Trois Gymnopedies (7'38)
Six Gnossienes (13'01)
Trois Morceaux en Forme du Poire (11'00)
Jack in Box (6'36)
La Balle Excentrique (6'09)
Sports Et Divertissements (12'33)
Embryons Desseches (5'12)
En Habit De Cheval (6'31)
Trois Nocturnes (8'35)

Total (78'26)

The piano performance is superb and the sound quality is excellent. I can find no better introduction to Satie's popular piano works than this CD. Enjoy this music for a nice relaxing, or romantic evening.

It takes a very fine sense of balance to play Satie correctly, to avoid ruining the score by being either overly sonorous or overly energetic. Aldo Ciccolini cuts just the right line, picking a well-balanced middle ground.

Aside from delivering one of the better performances of 'Trois Gymnopedies', Ciccolini offers both an invigorating version of 'Jack in the Box', as well as a suitably loopy rendition of 'Le Balle Excentrique'. All in all, a great introduction to Satie, and one that may be enough for most.

This is an analogue recording, the recording date is not given. The sound quality is excellant and some of the pieces are performed well; however, his perforfance of the Gymnopedies on EMI catalogue #67282 is superior.

I found this recording particularily soothing and mild. The processing is a little harsh and the programming is rough. However, Ciccolini seems to seep Satie from his fingers with such comfort and ease. It's excellent thinking music.

Minimalist to a fault--but the watercolors are vivid.