Satie Surprises Christina Bjørkøe (piano) (OUR Recordings)
It’s a pity that the centenary of Erik Satie’s death seems to be passing without fanfare. Erato released Alexandre Tharaud’s collection of previously unpublished Satie pieces in July and here’s a selection of seldom heard miniatures from pianist Christina Bjørkøe. Hers is a beguiling selection, beautifully played, most of the numbers boasting typically abstruse titles. Who wouldn’t want to hear such gems as “Son binocle”, “Froide songerie” or “Prélude canin”? Frustratingly, OUR’s booklet contains an excellent biographical essay about Satie by composer Torben Enghoff but nothing about the actual pieces themselves, so keep your laptop handy if you want to learn more about the “Facheux exemple” or “Songe-creux”.
Personal favourites among the 27 tracks on Bjørkøe’s disc include three “Airs à faire fuir” from Satie’s Pièces froides, the second of which is loosely based on the outline of a Northumbrian folk song (“The Keel Row”). It’s delightful, and just over a minute long. Compare it with the first and third of Satie’s 5 Nocturnes, late, serious works lasting well over three minutes each - epics by Satian standards. Even longer is the “Prélude de la porte héroïque du ciel”, composed in 1894 as an introduction to a long-forgotten ‘drame ésotérique’ and a piece which Satie was so proud of that he dedicated it to himself. Bjørkøe’s flowing tempo suits the music perfectly, leaving no space for sentimentality. It even includes the direction ‘superstitieusement’. In short, a fabulous Satie collection, warmly recorded and splendidly played. Graham Dickson