Satie: Piano Works, vol. 4
These are fresh and unbuttoned performances, flavored with plain vanilla and beautifully recorded. I praised Anne Queffélec and Catherine Collard's playing of several of these same four-hand works (Virgin) some time back, but now find them forcibly cute and brittle-sounding. Körmendi and Eckhardt are less tiresome, more deadpan. And the Hungarian pianists don't pounce on some of the forte markings the way earlier pianists have. There are no hidden idiot-savant masterpieces among these solo works, and I can't tell how Körmendi would fare in the more sensitive realm of the Gnossiennes, say. At the moment, though, I'd say she's perfectly suited to the simple drolleries of Jack-in-the-Box and La Diva de l'Empire, while she finds just the right vein of latent poetry for the Vieux Sequins. Clarity, alertness, and simplicity are the watchwords. I would recommend this excellent disc to anyone looking for an introduction to lesser-known Satie, or to anyone wanting an antidote to the various pianistic pretensions of Pascal Rogé (London) or Ciccolini (EMI).

Rev Grade: A

Fanfare May/June 95, John Lambert:
Volume 4

Here is another installment in Körmendi's admirable Satie series. Her solo work, as previously noted, is magnificent: she plays Satie with total commitment, as if his were the most important scores ever set to paper. The music here recorded includes some very well-known pieces, some lesser works, and more than a few alternate versions. Among these are seven brief dances from Le Piège de Mèduse, a play with music; an Intermezzo American after what Satie himself called "the celebrated song" Le Diva de l'empire (which was, of course, by him); and the original version of the pantomime Jack-in-the-Box, later orchestrated by Milhaud and choreographed by Balanchine for Sarah Bernhardt. Piano (4 hands) versions of En Habit de cheval, Trois Petities pièces montées, and La belle excentrique are also included; all exist in orchestral (or instrumental) editions. Körmendi's partner for the second half of this disc clearly shares her enthusiasm for the music.

Earlier (Fanfare 18:2), I reviewed Satie collections by McCabe (Emergo) and Kaspersen (Classico), in the process mentioning wonderful sets by Masselos and more modern versions by Ciccolini (Angel), Rogé (London), and an exceptional "Portrait" edition from Sony, played by Poulenc. Any of the latter three, or the McCabe, would serve nicely as an introduction to this composer's exceptional music. Alternatively, Naxos's disc of of excerpts from Körmendi's "complete" traversal would likewise be worthwhile. As for the four-hands material, there have been several comeptitive issues, of which the most comprehensive are Jordans and Doeselaar and Takahashi and Planés (Denon). A reissue of Robert and Gaby Casadesus's Columbia recording of Trois morceaux is long overdue.

The present recording is first-rate, the notes are excellent (and include a translation of the composer's texts for Heures séculaires et instantanées), and the playing time is certainly generous. Like its predecessor, this volume is highly recommended - to Saite completists and to general listeners who admire superb piano music, beautifully played and recorded.



Gramophone June 95, Christopher Headington:

Recitals of Satie's plentiful piano music usually offer a mixed bag of goodies and fairly nondescript items, and this one is no exception. Klára Körmendi's series, now drawing to its close, comes at super-bargain price. But this repertory is richly served, and several other pianists penetrate more deeply into the composer's quirky melancholy and sometimes nugatory invention: the best overall guide here is probably Pascal Rogé, but the contents of his two Decca recitals - well covered by Körmendi's earlier issues - overlaps hardly at all with the present disc.

This Hungarian artist has elsewhere offered useful insights into Satie's more solemn pieces, bt here they are unrepresented and she is unable to convey the essence of jeux d'espirit like Le Piccadilly. We also need more charm in the opening "Quadrille" of Le Piège de Mèduse, more humor in Jack-in-the-Box and more agreeable grotesqueness in the Heures séculaires et instantanées. Indeed, in this pianist's hands Satie's music mostly fails to evoke a smile, and we miss the rhythmic and tonal subtlety that makes for idiomatic playing. The close recording, though sounding faithful, lacks sparkle and, all in all, the soufflé does not rise ideally. However, the pieces for four hands with Gábor Eckhardt are rather more characterful, not least the Morceaux en forme de poire, and people already collecting Körmendi's budget series and finding her an acceptable guide may wish to add the new disc to their collection.

A fifth volume is planned for the series.