Five stars: A Satie piano recital of great and rarely heard pieces, exceptionally played.

SATIE Petite overture à danser. Facheux exemple. Effronterie. Airs à fair fuir: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Sons binocle. Profondeur. Avant-dernières pensées: Idylle (à Debussy); Aubade (à Dukas); Meditation (à Roussel). 5 Nocturnes: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Froide songerie. Prélude canin. 2 Rêveries nocturnes. Prélude de la porte héroique du ceil. Songe-creux. Caresse. Poésie. Désespoir agréable. Nostalgie. 3 Préludes  Christina Bjørkøe (pn)  OUR Recordings 8.226926 (59:45)

In this 100th anniversary of Satie’s death, it is quite wonderful to get a piano recital of rarely heard pieces, aptly titled Satie Surprises. There are no Gymnopédies or Gnossiennes here and only a very few of Bjørkøe’s choices appear on any of my other single disc Satie recitals. It seems like I do hear some snippet of Satie in the background of commercials on almost a daily basis. It is often tender and melodic, and always interesting. He did not follow rules and his eccentricities are a big part of his charm. There is artistic vision in Satie’s music that influenced John Cage and Philip Glass. Perhaps Jean Cocteau’s description of Satie is best: “The smallest work by Satie is small in the way a keyhole is small. Everything changes when you put your eye to it.”
Bjørkøe is from Denmark and has many recordings to her credit. She is an associate professor at the Danish National Academy of Music. She becomes a part of these pieces and simply lets Satie ebb and flow. The balances of melody and accompaniment are just right and the little variants in accompaniment figures are never missed, but not over-emphasized. The large booklet essay by Torben Enghoff is titled “Odd, Poor and Famous” and quite a fascinating look at Satie. The recorded Steinway sound is as state of the art as you can hear these days. This calls for my highest recommendation.
Five stars: A Satie piano recital of great and rarely heard pieces, exceptionally played.

SATIE Petite overture à danser. Facheux exemple. Effronterie. Airs à fair fuir: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Sons binocle. Profondeur. Avant-dernières pensées: Idylle (à Debussy); Aubade (à Dukas); Meditation (à Roussel). 5 Nocturnes: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Froide songerie. Prélude canin. 2 Rêveries nocturnes. Prélude de la porte héroique du ceil. Songe-creux. Caresse. Poésie. Désespoir agréable. Nostalgie. 3 Préludes  Christina Bjørkøe (pn)  OUR Recordings 8.226926 (59:45)

In this 100th anniversary of Satie’s death, it is quite wonderful to get a piano recital of rarely heard pieces, aptly titled Satie Surprises. There are no Gymnopédies or Gnossiennes here and only a very few of Bjørkøe’s choices appear on any of my other single disc Satie recitals. It seems like I do hear some snippet of Satie in the background of commercials on almost a daily basis. It is often tender and melodic, and always interesting. He did not follow rules and his eccentricities are a big part of his charm. There is artistic vision in Satie’s music that influenced John Cage and Philip Glass. Perhaps Jean Cocteau’s description of Satie is best: “The smallest work by Satie is small in the way a keyhole is small. Everything changes when you put your eye to it.”
Bjørkøe is from Denmark and has many recordings to her credit. She is an associate professor at the Danish National Academy of Music. She becomes a part of these pieces and simply lets Satie ebb and flow. The balances of melody and accompaniment are just right and the little variants in accompaniment figures are never missed, but not over-emphasized. The large booklet essay by Torben Enghoff is titled “Odd, Poor and Famous” and quite a fascinating look at Satie. The recorded Steinway sound is as state of the art as you can hear these days. This calls for my highest recommendation. James Harrington