We know Satie as a loner, but it is less well known that Satie had also been in love. He had a brief and stormy affair with the painter Suzanne Valadon. The portrait she made of him is on the cover of this album, as pianist Guillaume Coppola has conceived it as an intimate portrait of the composer, “one masked by a veil of modesty or provocation and which lies between antique and oriental inspiration, mystical phases, humour and cabaret”. The miniature Bonjour Biqui and the motif of the Vexations possess rare allusions to Valadon and become commas between these chapters, as does Désespoir agréable, whose title alone seems to sum up Satie’s life and work. This tribute is released to mark the centenary of Satie’s death; whilst the famous Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes feature on the programme, the album also presents rare and infrequently recorded discoveries that testify to the richness of the works that the whimsical Satie had created.

Guillaume Coppola – piano