Fanfare May/June 90, William Zagorski:

… I still find great merit in Pascal Rogé's gracious and classically poised offering on London 421-713 <Rogé's 2^nd, 1989 CD>. Though it contains only three selections in common with the Tacchino disc - Les trois valses distinguées du précieux dégoûté, Croquis et agaceries d'un gros bonhomme en bois, and Véritables Préludes flasques (pour un chien), it offers nonetheless a fine, well-contrasted cross-section of Satie's piano output. Hindsight shows me, however, that despite its meritorious pianism, this recording is somewhat compromised by its distant and dull sonic perspective. Too bad, because Rogé is an extraordinary artist, and he has produced an estimable group of performances.

<note: why does this reviewer choose Rogé's second CD for this comparison? The songs on Rogé's first CD are similar to the debuts from Queffélec and Tacchino being discussed. Odd, either the reviewer doesn't know about Rogé's first CD, or he thinks it's important to compare CD's that come-out in the same year.
In my opinion, the sound on Rogé 2^nd CD is fine. Sound on his first CD is excellent.>

Anne Queffélec's fine single-disc traversal on Virgin <her first CD> likewise provides an excellent cross section of Satie's piano music. Her disk offers Gymnopédies, Je te veux, Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien), Le Piccadilly, Sports et Divertissements, and Sonatine bureaucratique in common with the Tacchino CD, making it a more direct comparison than with the Rogé collection. Her playing also generally displays a youthful exuberance and romantic waywardness that I find appealing in this repertoire. What it sometimes lacks is that last measure of polish, coloristic variety, and finesse which Tacchino occasionally provides. His reading of the Gymnopédies is marginally faster but marked by greater variety in both phrase-shaping and rubato. On the other hand, Queffélec provides a more vital, humorous, and better contrasted performance of Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien). The Sonatine bureaucratique is almost a dead heat, with Tacchino barely winning the palm by a slightly better characterized last movement. Likewise, his Le Piccadilly is just a tad more poised (though none the less "rag"-like), and a bit more effective than Queffélec's. Tacchino's displays both a greater variety of phrasing and dynamic contrast than Queffélec's, but her Sports et Divertissements is more contrasted from section to section. Her tempos are marginally better gauged, but most important, Queffelec takes more reckless interpretive chances and they pay off. Tacchino demonstrates the thematic homogeneity of the suite; Queffélec points up the contrasts. Were I stuck on a desert island, I'd opt for Queffélec's performance, though if I were stuck with Tacchino's, I certainly wouldn't sink to the depths of despair. AS a passing point to further muddy the critical waters, Queffélec provides one of the most hilarious, mysterious, and humorously well-informed readings of Embryons desséchés (a piece not found on Tacchino's estimable offering) that I have ever encountered anywhere.

… If you are in search of a single CD release of Satie piano music … acquire both the
Queffélec and Tacchino discs. Taken together they provide a better insight into the expressive variety to be found in this large, and largely problematical, piano oeuvre than either of the two best multi-disc integral sets currently in the catalog (Clidat on Forlane and Ciccolini on EMI). But if one has to make a single choice, I can warmly recommend either the Queffélec or the Tacchino with no reservation.

<Zagursky makes more comparisons in the Legrand review.>