Satie: Complete Piano Works / L'Oeuvre Pour Piano

Armengaud, who's written his own book on Satie (in French), manages splendid efflorescence on the first CD (Famous Pieces) and the last (Works for Piano Duet, with Dominique Merlet), and he takes a funnily melodramatic approach to the second CD, Humorous Pieces (containing gems like "Floppy Preludes--for a Dog" and "Sketches and Irritations of a Fat Figurine"), all of which teeter and lilt with delighted looseness and retain a crisp edge. The remaining discs are Mystical Pieces and the crown jewel of the bunch, Surrealistic and Childish Pieces. Satie's ability to depict motion and space is unmatched on the latter set of works, with feints and jabs of spirited playfulness alternating with warpy, balletlike episodes that benefit deeply from Armengaud's interpretations. They're warm and crafty at once. Can Satie be taken at his word on any of his notes and descriptions of these works? Perhaps and perhaps not, as he was equal parts surrealist, childlike tinkerer, metaphysical scientist, and whimsical dramatist. --Andrew Bartlett