From Steve Schwartz's review of Armengaud's 4-Hand Recording:

Wyneke Jordans and Leo van Doeselaar's account of the same repertoire on Etcetera 1015 is not nearly as well-played or recorded as this, but I think it comes much closer to the spirit of Satie.

Fanfare Mar/Apr 84, J.D.W.:

After the harrowing provided by Satie's furniture music (Musical Heritage Society, FNAC) it's a relief to confront anything of his in which the underlying idea doesn't overshadow it's execution. That happens to be the case with everything on this disc, which the manufacturer claims (and I believe) is the first complete recording of Satie's four-hand piano music. The direct and beautifully made pear-shaped pieces, elicited by a provocative remark of Debussy's, are played by everybody; more should take up the similarly attractive Unpleasant Remarks (made with a smile) and In Horse Costume. (Who? The horse, of course.)

In the case of Parade and the Trois petities pièces montées, I find the piano versions more pungently effective than Satie's predominatly bland orchestral scoring, at least as dealt out by Jordans and Doeselaar. They are right on top of everything, with sharply delineated rhythms, elegant forward-moving phrasing, and exacting dynamic control. La belle excentrique is cabaret stuff, the most trivial music of a generally lightweight program, and who cares? In the opening Grande ritournelle these nifty Netherlanders dance it off its feet.

Klaas Posthuma has provide his usual topflight piano recording, and the pressing quality brings to mind other, better-known Dutch labels. Posthuma also provides well-informed liner notes in real English (with German and French laid in). For those who find something of value in the music of Erik Satie (count me among them) this is one of the most desireable recordings to come along in ages, maybe I should say ever.

Speaking of Barbier-Wiener in Jan/Feb 88:

The solo music is all quite early and not fully characteristic, the four-hand material late and near-great. Barbier and Wiener do not project anything resembling the genial brilliance of Jordans and Doeselaar in their treasurable survey of all the 4-hand music of Satie, but they do well enough on their own more relaxed terms.

American Record Guide > Sept 84, M.B.T.:

Erik Satie's music enjoyed a tremendous upsurge in popularity in the late '60's and early '70's, and I'm afraid I've always felt more than a little out of it. The qualities praised by the music's proponents were those of contemptuous brevity, condescending wit, and smug blandness. None of these appealed to me then, nor do they now. Further, quite a big deal was made of Satie's use of perverse performing directions and antitraditional titles, practices which I felt (and feel) were much better done by Charles Ives.

Yet just how much of my distaste for Satie, I wonder, is due to the nature of the performances I heard in those days? It could be that Aldo Ciccolini, in his series of six records for EMI/Angel, stressed just that aspect of Satie's music which I could not tolerate, without giving full rein to the style and elegance in the music. For here, by contrast, in this recital of the complete four-hand piano music of Satie, those qualities of causticity are replaced by wit, the stubborness is mitigated by charm, and the blandness is amplified by grace.

The Dutch duo of Jordans and Van Doeselaar, hitherto unknown to me, bring to this music an exceptionally able technique. They have an ear for the beauty of sound, and they shape the phrases into superstructures. Satie may have claimed to despise these virtues, but they are probably inherent in his art as a French composer. Work after work demonstrates a balance of this beauty with a sense of artless poise that surely is the way these pieces must go if they are not to be simply tidbits of musical understatement.

Even Satie's own reduction (and slight abridgement) of his ballet Parade, which I have invariably found ponderous and dull in its orchestral guise, emerges with a fresh charm I never though I'd hear from this composer.

The sound is fine, not too close up, with good imaging of a fine grand piano. The digital recording still bears a curious background hiss which I couldn't trace to the very smooth disc surfaces; it may simply be hall ambience. Brief and informative notes by producer Klaas Posthuma, and a charming and attractive back-jacket photograph of the performing duo complete this most enjoyable issue. If they're taking requests, I'd love to hear them tackle some Chabrier next!

Highly recommended to piano-duo buffs, and to devotees of this composer not hopelessly addicted to Ciccolini's acidulity.

High Fidelity, Oct 84, Robert Schwarz:

This recording presents us with the complete piano four-hand music of Erik Satie, brought together on one disc for the first time. Including his own arrangements of works not originally conceived for piano, it offers a relatively complete picture of Satie's compositional development after 1900. And what impressive music this is! For those who belittle Satie, perceiving him as a second-rate prankster more important for his influence than for his music, a number of these pieces will be eye-openers.

Prime among them is Trois Morceaux en forme de poire (1890-1903). Despite its humorous title, this is deeply serious music, a set of seven miniatures that span a wide emotional range from lilting melancholy to popular dancelike numbers. There is none of the arch cynicism or illogical juxtapostioning of Satie's later works. The more somber sections emanate from the world of the Gymnopédies, with mournful, oddly chromatic melodic lines floating above repeated chordal patterns; the dancelike sections never fall into vulgarity or parody. All is controlled, heartfelt, utterly disarming.

In 1905, Satie entered the Schola Cantorum to study theory and counterpoint. Works like Apercus désagréables (1908-12) and En Habit de cheval (1911) are typical of the results. The movements are cast in compact, neo-Classic forms (principally fugues and chorales) and the writing is thinner in texture, far more linear, and less perfumed harmonically than in his earlier works. Yet - as Stravinsky was to do some years later - Satie entirely reinterprets the traditions of fugue and chorale, and the outcome bears his unmistakably personal harmonic and melodic stamp.

Satie's famous ballet, Parade (1017), recorded here in its piano duo version, makes an excellent impression. I have always found that orchestral recordings of this work - lacking the visual distraction of the stage - quickly disintegrate into a jumble of dance-hall fragments, popular tunes and cinematic action music. Yet, owing to the uniform timbre of the instrument, the piano duo version immediately assumes more organic character, its cubistic collages suddenly seeming coherent if not controlled.

Trois petites pièces montées and La belle Excentrique (1920) date from Satie's last years and are imbued with the popular spirit of the music hall: March, polka, waltz, cancan, cakewalk are all snatched from the cabaret and remade. Sometimes vulgar, sometimes affecting, these miniatures - while far from profound - have an undeniable charm.

One doubts that Wyneke Jordans and Leo van Doeselaar's performances will soon be surpassed. The tw approach this music lovingly, caressingly; most important, they take it seriously. They have rehearsed their interpretations with infinite care, bringing to them a wide dynamic range, innumerable tonal shadings, and delightfully appropriate rubatos - without ever undoing the appearance of absolute spontaneity. Jordans and Doeselaar capture the charm of this music, from the rambunctious joy of the cabaret numbers to the delicate melancholy of the lyric ones. Even better, they penetrate to the music's structure, clarifying inner lines through crisp articulation and careful pedaling.

Etcetera's sonics are excellent, but unfortunately all is cloaked in an intrusive background hiss that is surprising in a digital recording. No matter: Pianists, Francophiles, contemporary music types will all cherish this recording.

Stereo Review, April 84, R.F.:

All of Satie's four-hand piano music is, I think, contained on this disc, and it is an appealing collection. While I don't think Parade comes of too well in this form, that is not the performers' fault, and everything else here is a droll delight. These young Dutch pianists, still in their twenties when the recording was made, obviously enjoy this material and take it seriously enough to bring out its musical substance. Their playing is nicely balanced, if with a slight tendency toward dryness, and the recording is generally fine. The package is further enhanced by a concisely informative note on the music by the producer, Klaas Poshuma.