For a long time, Tharaud has been fascinated by the music of his compatriot, who was born in Normandy in 1866 and died in Paris in 1925—revered and contested alike as a visionary, prophet, and founder of a new art. Few musicians have devoted as much attention to Satie’s enigmatic piano pieces as Tharaud. Satie, after all, composed languid Préludes for a Dog, crafted musical portraits of non-smoking sea cucumbers, and filled his scores with cryptic instructions. The Paris-born pianist and passionate chamber musician, Alexandre Tharaud (born in 1968), has given these works a level of recognition rarely seen. His 2009 Satie album for the harmonia mundi label, in which he also explored the composer’s non-solo works alongside musicians like Éric Le Sage and Isabelle Faust, has become a reference recording.

At the Ruhr Piano Festival, Alexandre Tharaud transforms his tribute to Satie into an homage to French music as a whole, incorporating other French composers into the program. Beginning with Jean-Philippe Rameau—one of the forefathers of the French piano tradition, alongside François Couperin—he draws a broad yet seamless connection to Maurice Ravel, who not only held deep admiration for Satie but also drew crucial creative inspiration from him. Tharaud has set standards in Ravel’s demanding piano repertoire, both on stage and in recordings. Those attending his concert at Museum Folkwang will experience him fully in his element.

And to ensure that virtuosity is not neglected, Alexandre Tharaud concludes the evening with a dazzling, magical display: in the exquisitely crafted transcription of Paul Dukas’ most famous orchestral work, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897)—written in the very same decade in which Satie composed his much-admired Gnossiennes—he demonstrates his brilliance as an arranger, attuned precisely to the needs of his instrument.

Photo: Jean-Baptiste Millot