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PROJECT ERIK SATIE

three concerts to present the worlds of the French composer
2023

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Erik Satie wrote piano pieces ‘in the shape of a pear’, founded a sect of which he was the only member, and invented a kind of music explicitly intended not to be listened to. In short, he was an eccentric, but a highly creative one! He flouted traditions, and had little respect for established values. 

He unabashedly went his own way, in search of total musical freedom and bewildered audiences. This entire day of Festival 20.21 was devoted to Satie. Each of its three concerts is centred on one aspect of Satie’s bizarre artistry: religion, Paris salon culture and the cabaret, with various video inputs.

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Jan Michiels (piano)

Laure Binon & Inge Spinette (voice & piano)

I Solisti (wind ensemble)

Lise Bruyneel (video)

 

Leuven (Schouwburg)


2023

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In Sacré Satie, Jan Michiels juxtaposes Satie’s piano work 'Uspud' with Liszt’s 'Via Crucis'. Both pieces are religious, but in Liszt’s work it’s religion that prevails, while confusion gets the upper hand with Satie; the title alone – ballet catholique – probably raises quite a few eyebrows.

 

Salon Satie meanders through Paris on a Sunday afternoon: a dash of salon music, a soupçon of ‘see and be seen’ along the chic boulevards and a bit of elite carrying on in the Bois de Boulogne. 

Pianist Inge Spinette and soprano Lore Binon present a varied programme of piano music and songs by Satie and his contemporaries. 

Despite the often light-hearted tone, lurking just around every corner, or behind the next tree are mockery, self-deprecation and cultural criticism. Listening carefully inevitably means looking in a mirror.

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Satire Satie, the final part of the triptych, revolves around one of Satie’s most remarkable masterpieces: 'Parade', a notorious scandalous success in French music history. In it, Satie flirts with the attractions of nonsense and bad taste, but his gifted sense of musical humour rises above it all.  

At your service are I SOLISTI, an Antwerp-based wind ensemble known for always playing on the edge and not shying away from adventure. 

Video artist Lise Bruyneel enhances the mood with some spicy text collages from writings by Satie as well as some of his equally eccentric contemporaries.

Below a few screenshots from the video creation for 'Uspud'

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