American Record Guide
Jan/Feb 91, Timothy Taylor:
Satie's music is curiously difficult to perform. It thwarts
so many of the conventions of classical music that the ways we
have to judge the music, and the performances of it, fail. The
piano music has been recorded far more than any of his other works,
and no one really stands out in this repertoire, although no one
fails terribly either. All you really need is a good sound; technique
isn't much of an issue in most of the pieces; and the pieces practically
have the interpretation built in (as Stravinsky tried to claim
for his music.)
Peter Dickinson does rather well with the limitations inherent
in the music. He captures the anti-romantic coolness and the humor
when it's there. It's a good disc, and holds up well against better-known
recordings by Aldo Ciccolini, among others. Since he's beautifully
recorded, and since there's 77 minutes of music, this makes as
good an introduction to Satie's solo piano music as any single
recording I know.
Gramophone
Dec 90, Christopher Headington:
We are not short of recordings of Satie's piano music,
but this generously filled disc is welcome, not merely because
it seems to me to be closer than most to conveying the character
of this elusive but fascinating musician, whom his friend Darius
Milhaud called "poor Satie", but also because it's a
little different in presentation from a straightforward recital.
For a start, the booklet notes are also by Peter Dickinson, who
is a composer as well as a scholar; they are enlightened and sensitive
… as well as informative, and preceded by a self-portrait
drawing of the composer I hadn't seen before… Dickinson says
that he has aimed here "to represent the best of Satie's
unique personality in mystical, comic and popular veins"
… and has "sought to present the essential Erik Satie,
both by his selection of the works and by stripping away any inessential
indulgences of interpretation."
The proof of these precepts lies in the playing, we may say -
and very nice it is too. The title of Satie's most popular work
is hardly ever understood save by scholars, but I have always
suspected that the three Gymnopédies which evoke
the choral dances of naked boys in ancient Sparta reflect his
sexual taste; if they do, their deep innate delicacy and sadness
(one is marked douloureux and another triste) must
win sympathy. Dickinson plays them with a quiet grave beauty,
though ideally the recording here and elsewhere could have allowed
a more remote pianissimo. After this comes a series of
further pleasures: the pianist is a little straight-faced in the
humorous pieces such a those of Le piége de Méduse,
but I'm inclined to think that that's the right approach - we
should not forget that Satie's mother was Scottish and I think
his characteristic humor is what the Scotts call pawky, or even
dour. It's a wry twinkle that Dickinson gives us, rather than
a belly-laugh, but make no mistake, the humor's all there.
And he can instantly create a mood for pieces that are sometimes
very brief, such as the 21 that make up Sports et divertissements
and the final "Quadrille" of Le piége.
Which lasts a mere 20 seconds - not a very striking 20 seconds
musically, I feel, admitting that there are occasionally dampish
squibs among Satie's fireworks, including such titles as Genuine
flabby preludes (for a dog). But they're outweighed by the
pleasures; and do notice, too, how accurately he could encapsulate
a style, as in "Tyrolienne turque" and "Españana",
or a human character, as in the chatterbox of "Celle qui
parle trop". He was a melodist too - listen to the café-concert
waltzes called Poudre d'Or and Je te veux, not very
individual if you like, but how agreeable when played like this,
with just the right degree of Gallic schmaltz! The Rosicrucian
music of Le fils des étoiles (1891) is both deeply
serious and original in language; orchestrated it could pass as
being by the Debussy of two decades later in Le martyre de
St. Sébastien, and it makes me want to hear Dickinson
as a Debussy pianist.
Space forbids more, and suffice it to say again that I have enjoyed
this Satie record and that it has reminded me just how much worthwhile
piano music came from the pen of this composer - indeed there
is room for another Satie/Dickinson disc. A good recording adds
to one's pleasure with a certain softness to the piano sound.
Gramophone
May 93, C.H. (review of Dickinson & John Lenehan CD's):
<notes that "Erik Satie Show" is reissue of
"The Essential Satie", which he reviewed before>
Dickinson's recital is one of the three recommended in the 1992
Good CD Guide and deservedly so <Good CD review>
….Dickinson expertly conveys the unique blend of humor and
gravity in his wide-ranging choice of pieces (there are 31 tracks
in all), and the Trois Gymnopédies have a tender, dignified
sadness, while there's panache and charm in the café-concert
waltzes Poudre d'or and Je te veux. This composer's
wit is uneven, and I wrote in my earlier review of the "occasional
dampish squibs among Satie's fireworks", but at his best
he is something special and this recital is an attractive compilation
as well as being generous one at 77 minutes.
Dickinson recorded an album in
1981 with his sister, Meriel Dickinson, mezzo soprano, called
An Erik Satie Entertainment on Unicorn Records (RHS 338).
It includes an eclectic mix of Satie's café songs, songs
from Air de Geneviéve, several early obscure pieces,
and (?!) another version of Vexations.
From Opera News, Jan 2 82:
A sister-and-brother team, Meriel and Peter Dickinson,
have put together a tribute to Erik Satie that avoids cultism
and concentrates on the material itself, whether lively, sardonic,
simple or dreamy. Miss Dickinson's throaty cabaret voice is made
to order for the dozen songs, seven of them recorded firsts, interspersed
with piano solos.
La Diva de l'Empire
Gnossienne No. 2
Le Piccadilly
Three Songs: Les Anges, Les Fleurs, Sylvie
Je Te Veux (piano)
Elégie
Hymne: Salut Drapeau!
Chanson
Tendrement
Piéces Froides: Airs à faire fuir No. 2
Chanson Médiévale
Poudre d'Or
Two songs from Geneviéve de Brabant: Air de Geneviéve,
Petit Air
Gymnopédie No. 1
Je Te Veux (song)
Vexations
