Born at a time when the music world was under the spell of Richard Wagner’s music, Erik Satie was perhaps the first French composer who...

Born at a time when the music world was under the spell of Richard Wagner’s music, Erik Satie was perhaps the first French composer who chose aesthetics and a style that ignored the rampant Wagnerism. His piano works, short, hieratic, sometimes disarmingly simple, often bearing ironic and misleading titles, have inspired many musicians, such as Claude Debussy, who was Satie’s friend and admirer. This release offers some of the French composer’s more renowned works, such as the beautiful Trois Gymonopedies and the remarkable Six Gnossiennes, the long-lasting popularity of which is perhaps the best proof of Satie’s absolutely original talent. These works are presented by young pianist Giacomo Scinardo, whose highly successful recent recording of works by Mussorgsky was described by Fanfare as “exuberantly playful.”