Socrate - Messe Des Pauvres - Poulenc Piano Pieces

Album review

British label Él brings together one whole and two half albums of classic 1950s Erik Satie recordings in Erik Satie: Socrate. The first half album is that of composer/pianist Francis Poulenc interpreting Satie's music, which Él has reissued before in its release Francis Poulenc Plays the Piano Music of Satie and Poulenc. Although Él claims a "1956" recording date for these items, they are clearly the same ones that Poulenc recorded in 1950 that was issued on American Columbia coupled with a side of Poulenc's own works. It goes without saying, however, that these are highly desirable recordings of Satie's piano music, as Poulenc did not treat Satie in a way many pianists who came after him do -- Poulenc's interpretations are patient, anti-virtuosic, and emphasize a plain and direct approach to music many players take too quickly and with too many fancy flourishes. The remainder of the disc is taken from some equally highly desirable Satie recordings that originally appeared on the Esoteric label; Marilyn Mason's 1951 recording of Messe des Pauvres, with a chorus directed by David Randolph, and Socrate as given under the baton of René Leibowitz in 1952. Although Esoteric proved short-lived, it was combined with the Counterpoint label and ultimately both were acquired by Everest; as LPs, these performances were available in the United States for decades. This was fortunate, as the Messe des Pauvres in particular is a very fine performance and remains among the most seldom recorded of Satie's compositions.
The Leibowitz Socrate is the main disappointment here; the original recording was always slightly harsh and gritty even though the singing and interpretation are entirely idiomatic and as French as French music gets. Él doesn't have access to any original tapes of these recordings -- indeed, the masters to the Esoteric items may have been destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake -- and so these CD transfers necessarily come from LPs. The digitization of Socrate is excessively bright and has an unattractive, artificial reverberation added to it, suggesting that Él's source may have been a "fake stereo" Everest LP. The effect of this reverberation -- unwittingly adding shrillness to the sound of French sopranos -- wasn't very tolerable on LP and it isn't so here. However, Mason's recording of Messe des Pauvres survives its digitization well. This is good news, as there probably hasn't been a better recording of Messe des Pauvres made since then -- her reading observes a patient tempo, is resolutely unfussy when it comes to registration, and the small male chorus sings its brief part very well. The Messe des Pauvres was one of the most innovative compositions of the 1890s and marked a distinct departure from any sacred music written in its time; it foreshadows the mature music of Charles Tournemire and the whole school of French "mystic" organ music of the 1930s. There is certainly every reason for the Satie devotee to want access to this recording, and so -- despite the repetition of the Poulenc titles and the poor sound of Socrate -- one cannot be too hard on Él for putting out this compilation.

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