Track Listing

1. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 1
2. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 2
3. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 3
4. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 4
5. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 5
6. Gnossiennes (6), for piano: No. 6
7. Ogives (4), for piano: I
8. Ogives (4), for piano: II
9. Ogives (4), for piano: III
10. Ogives (4), for piano: IV
11. Petite ouverture � danser, for piano
12. Sarabandes (3) for piano: No. 1
13. Sarabandes (3) for piano: No. 2
14. Sarabandes (3) for piano: No. 3
15. Gymnop�dies (3), for piano (also orchestrated by Debussy): No. 1
16. Gymnop�dies (3), for piano (also orchestrated by Debussy): No. 2
17. Gymnop�dies (3), for piano (also orchestrated by Debussy): No. 3

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224548 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-09
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Linda Burman-Hall is well-known as a performer of historic keyboard works, and has appeared at such noteworthy venues as the Berkeley Early Music Festival, Aston Magna & the American Musicological Society. In addition, she is the Artistic Director of the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival and Lux Musica, an ensemble dedicated to 17th & 18th century repertoire. Her recent MSR Classics release of solo keyboard music of J.S.Bach "Two Faces of Genius" has received rave reviews. Soprano Patrice Miginnis is well known in California, Montreal and Germany for her solo performances and masterclasses. She has also made several recordings of music by Tailleferre, Harrison and others.

In "Erik Satie ~ Visions" she explores a selection of early solo piano works by enigmatic French composer Erik Satie, shedding new light on them by means of the 1875 Erard Grand piano she plays employs for her performances. The instrument, tuned to A=435, was built in the years 1868 through 1875 by Pierre and Sebastian Erard, and restored in Amsterdam by Fritz Janmaat in 1995.

Amazon.com
Who would think that Michel Legrand, well known for his movie music and jazz piano playing, would turn out to be such an excellent player of Satie. This spare, often sarcastically humorous music is extremely distant from Legrand's own compositions. Yet he plays the pieces with poise, clarity, and sensitivity to Satie's special world of elegant zaniness. The famous Gymnopédies are here, played ideally at a tempo which is almost too slow. The main complaint against this disc is that it should have had more music (only 54"), but what is here is excellent, and very well recorded. --Leslie Gerber

FANFARE, JUNE/JULY 2004
"Linda Burman-Hall plays this..music with the proper mix of subtle humor and naive expression...the effect is charming."

Customer Reviews

SUBLIME SATIE
In no way, shape or form has Satie sounded so metaphysical, so ethereal; in no way, shape or form does the composer's mystical visions receive a more rapt personal approach. In the hands of pianist de Leeuw, the music simply doesn't get more intimate than this. Time stops; the melancholic simplicity embraces; the nurturing repetition--- tres lent---soothes mind, body and spirit. Not a note is out of joint, or misjudged. This is the deepest essence of Satie revealed in a performance so ideal in timing, so uncannily concentrated and distilled, so beautifully recorded, and so fully in accord, as to be, ultimately, perfect.

[Running time: 66:49]

A Fine Satie...
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Difficult to beat Pascal Rogé with Satie, but this disc is very fine indeed.

Pair this disc with Rogé's "After the Rain" After the Rain...The Soft Sounds of Erik Satie

Adequate faux-Magritte cover photo too.
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An excellant transcription with thoughtful playing
This is an unusually successful transcription of what may be termed "Erik Satie's Greatest Hits." The alto guitar is a marvelous instrument for Erik Satie's piano compositions. The lower tones and increased sustain make for a convincing transcription. This guitar-and of course, the guitar player-are capable of sustained dark tones that are the essence of Satie.

It is arguable that Satie doesn't really need to be transcribed for guitar, as his music is so obviously suited to the piano for which it was composed. Nonetheless, this recording makes me want to locate an alto guitar to starting examining the magic of this music.