Album: Satie, Works for Two and Four Hands (KML)

Tiered cakes, pears and desiccated embryos.

The titles of Érik Satie's works are as odd as his performance directions. "Postulate deep inside yourself" reads one, and the idea of private gesture is central to the latest release from Katia and Marielle Labèque. Here Katia's lyricism and rhythmic drive are the foil to Marielle's looser style. Performed with birdsong accompaniment, "Sports et Divertissements" is the must-hear, while the raucous "Pièces montées" will startle those expecting the unruffled beauty of the "Gymnopédies" and "Gnossiennes".