Pros: de Leeuw succeeds masterfully on the Gnossienes, Preludes, and Pièces froides
Cons: de Leeuw's interpretation is sometimes too slow, tedious.
The Bottom Line: de Leeuw gives us a different and unusually respectful Satie interpretation; avoid it if looking for the definitive Gymnopédies. Otherwise I daresay that, all in all, it succeeds.
bkalafut's Full Review: Satie: The Early Piano Works / Reinbert de Leeuw
This is a recording of works dating mostly from from Satie's early "mystic" period, in which he was associated with the Rosicrucian order. The Gnossiènes, Petite ouverture à danser, Prelude de "La porte héroique du ciel", Danses gothiques, Ogives, and Gymnopédies can be found on the first disc; the Sarabandes, Sonneries de la Rose-Croix, Pièces froides, Prière, and 4 Préludes are on the second.
It has been much-criticized elsewhere as being the Vanilla Fudge (a reference to the 1960s acid-rock band) interpretation of Satie; the works are played much more slowly than we are usually accustomed to, sometimes leaving the listener waiting a second or two for a note seemingly hanging in the air.
The Gymnopédies are perhaps played a bit too slowly; de Leeuw's treatment gives them a meditative quality, but that these pieces are dances (specifically, funeral dances) is lost on the listener. The Ogives, monophonic neo-Gregorian pieces inspired by Satie's visit to Notre Dame, are slow pieces under a normal interpretation; under de Leeuw's they lose their prayerlike quality and the tension and resolution which most interpreters build through careful phrasing. (They become excellent furniture music--a concept explored by Satie in later works--under de Leeuw's treatment.)
The Gnossienes on the other hand, thrive under this treatment. They are musically interesting yet rather easy to play, which leads some interpreters to rush through them almost disrespectfully. De Leeuw does not slow these to the point of absurdity, rather, de Leeuw holds back just enough to give the listener time to process the music. The treatment of the posthumously published 4th-6th Gnossienes is dead-on and the best I have heard.
Similarly, the Pièces froides (not slowed) receive excellent treatment; they're played true to Satie's text, with careful phrasing and without embellishment, overdramatization, or exaggerated crescendos. The treatment of the 4 Préludes, is likewise dead-on, especially de Leeuw's capturing of the symmetry, balance, and honesty of the prayerlike Prélude d'Eginhard.
Through most of the recording de Leeuw's dynamics, phrasing, and rhythm--qualities which separate good performances of these works from the grating, frivolous, or merely mechanical--are ideal. He seems to approach these technically simpler, early works with a patience lacking in other Satie interpreters.
Unfortunately, this recording's reputation has suffered because it's main failure is in the treatment of Satie's most popular works, the Trois Gymnopédies.
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