ERIC SATIE: “TROIS GYMNOPEDIES”; OTHER PIANO WORKS....

ERIC SATIE: “TROIS GYMNOPEDIES”; OTHER PIANO WORKS. Pascal Roge, piano. London Jubilee 420 220-1. This recording of Satie’s sad little piano pieces will repay careful avoidance. The pianist is accurate with his fingers and steady with his timing, but his playing suffers from stiffness and lack of vigor. The same music, in the hands of Aldo Ciccolini, or the composer himself, surrendered nothing in steadiness, yet breathed and twitched with life.