Ek-Stasis: Dionysus, Nymphs and Satyrs

The ethos of this two-CD set is to capture the essence, nature and exploits of the Greek god Dionysus and his crew. To this end the album is sectioned into several themes associated with the divinity: seduction, pathos, illusion, metamorphosis, transcendence, instinct, catharsis, mythos, paradox, and transition. It creates an “immersive experience that guides the listener through various stages of the myth and offers a musical perspective on the story.”

Zoe Samsarelou is a Greek pianist who currently holds the post of Professor at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. Presently she is the Artistic Director of the International Pelion Festival held yearly in Greece. Initially she majored in archaeology and then pursued her career as a pianist. Mythology, history, and the Arts have held for her a life-long fascination. 

First up, who was Dionysus? In a nutshell, he was the god of agriculture and more importantly, wine! He also had a great interest in fertility, drama, and festivities.  His father was Zeus himself and his mother was the mortal Theban princess, Semele. In Roman mythology, Dionysus was known as Bacchus. From this cognomen we get the concept of Bacchanalian parties, which tended to descend into orgies. Admirers of Titian’s painting, Bacchus and Ariadne, in the National Gallery, will recall that he was accompanied by satyrs, maenads, and the old man Silenus, who was nearly always under the influence of the vino. On a more serious note, since the seventh century BC, Dionysus has been worshipped down the years even unto our own days. Most famous in recent years were the devotees of the Hellfire Clubs which thrived in the eighteenth century. He is associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, Orphism and in comparative religion, Jesus Christ.

As noted above, Zoe Samsarelou has themed her recital. On the other hand, I found that the music divides into three main historical groups. Firstly, the baroque, including Rameau, Dandrieu, Couperin and Daquin. Then there are the “romantics” and “moderns” featuring Debussy, Dukas, Schmitt, Massenet, Bortkiewicz, and our own Harry Farjeon. And lastly there is a slew of Greek composers, only one of whom I know, Nikos Skalkottas. There is also a mystery man, Paul Juón. Little on the internet about him, but Grove’s Dictionary entry explains that he was a German musician of Russian birth and Swiss and German descent, who was given the nickname of the “Russian Brahms.”

Highlights for me included all the baroque works. Who can resist the vivacity of Rameau’s “take” on the Les cyclopes or François Couperin’s thoughts on the Tendresses bachiques and the Fureurs bachiques. (Why does the track listing give two different sets of dates for Dandrieu, and miss out the Jean from his forename?)

French impressionism is represented with a transcription of Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’ après-midi d’ un faune and two of his underplayed Six epigraphies antiques - No. 1 Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d’été, and No.4 Pour la danseuse aux crotales. Equally delicious is Déodat de Séverac’s Les Naïades et le Faune Indiscret: it is my favourite number in this recital. (His dates in the track listing are wrong – I think those given are Gilbert Alexandre de Séverac’s who was a French 19th Century artist)

Paul Dukas’s La plainte, au loin, du faune (Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy) is hard edged and a million miles away from the ubiquitous Sorcerer. Lugubrious is a good description of Florent Schmitt’s Et Pan, au fond des bles lunaires, s’accouda from Mirages, op.70, dating from about 1920. This piece was also included in Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy.

A surprise for me was Sergei Bortkiewicz’s Valse grotesque (Satyre) from Trois Morceaux, op. 24, no. 2 written in 1922. Hints of jazz and Gershwin abound. One of my favourites on this CD is Ukrainian composer and pianist Mischa Levitzki’s dreamily romantic The Enchanted Nymph (1928).

And then there is Harry Farjeon, the Englishman abroad. We hear his attractive, if Georgian, Pictures from Greece, op.13, examining The Dryads, The Muses, The Graces amongst others.  

The “Russian Brahms,” Paul Juón does not rely too heavily on his nickname in the nine pieces from his suite Satyre und Nymphen, op. 18. Diverse movements present “scenes in life and times” of the characters. I especially warmed to the Valse Lente: Dryaden reigen im Mondschein (The Dryads Dance in the Moonlight) and the concluding Scherzo: Nymphe fiehl! Schnell! Satyr hascht dich which can be creatively, playfully translated as “You’ve been caught, lassie!”

The Greek works are a mixed bunch. Dimitri Terzakis’s Satyr und Naïaden was written in 2005. In disjointed figurations, the composer depicts the Satyr’s attempts to seduce the Naïades, with singular failure on their behalf. It is as dry as dust. His Ein Satyrspiel (2003) has more vivacity.  From Tethys to the Mediterranean (1999) is part of Giorgos Koumendakis’s suite Mediterranean Desert. It is a dark and cheerless piece, with no relief. Certainly, no Aegean warmth. Lina Tonia’s Prelude of a lost dream (2020) “is based on constant alternations between fast movements and small melodic patterns, like a floating between two different worlds, the world of dreams and that of reality.” Definitely neo-impressionistic. Two pieces are included by Nikos Skalkottas. His compositions were influenced by the Second Viennese School’s serialism, traditional Greek music as well as the broader classical tradition. Echo, (1946) which is largely tonal, portrays the well-known myth of Echo and Narcissus. It is quite lovely, romantic, and impressionistic, especially the aquatic effects. It ends quietly as befits the tale. Skalkottas’s Procession to Acheron (1948) is totally different in mood. Depicting the flow of the river from the land of the living to Hades, the abode of Pluto himself, it is dark hued and bitter.

Nestor Taylor’s Erinyes, from Huit Clos (2017) is a short but immensely powerful toccata depicting the Furies, “the goddesses of vengeance and retribution, who also oversaw the implementation of the punishment imposed on the people by the judges of Hades.”

Dionysus and the pirates, the voyage from Ikaria to Naxos (1998) by Dimitris Marangopoulos supposedly tells the story of when “the god Dionysus, disguised as a rich, young man, was seized by pirates to be held for ransom, and the miracles that happened…” Finally, Aspasia Nasopoulou’s Krokeatis Lithos-Lakonia from Raw (not Row as in the liner notes, I think) Rocks (2017) is loud, slow and ‘pesante’. It is not something I would have chosen to conclude this long recital with. The background to the piece would seem to be more about geology than mythology.

The CD’s documentation leaves much to be desired. Most serious is the total lack of analytical or descriptive notes about the many non-Greek numbers. Equally remiss is the lack of dates for these works. I was able to look them up, so presumably the producer of the disc could have done so too. I have noted some discrepancies in titles, composer’s names, and dates above. To be sure, all the Hellenic pieces have concise programme notes which are helpful, as most of these will be unfamiliar to all but a few cognoscente.

Overall, this is a fascinating recital, that explores a wide range of music set against the background of Classical mythology. It is enthusiastically played by Zoe Samsarelou revealing considerable depth of interpretation and technical expertise. The recording is clear and bright.

The website for Divine Art sums up the CDs’ achievement: “This unique programme highlights the creativity and ingenuity of the Greek spirit and its influence on humanity for over 2,500 years.” It is a disc to savour slowly.

Track Listing:
CD1
Jean-François Dandrieu (c.1682-1738)
2ème Livre, 6ème Suite, La sirène (1728)
Déodat de Séverac (1872-1921)
Les Naïades et le Faune Indiscret (1908-1919? pub.1952)
Dimitri Terzakis (b.1938)
Satyr und Naïaden (2005)
Jean-François Dandrieu
2ème Livre, 6ème Suite, La bacante (1728)
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
La plainte, au loin, du faune (Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy) (1920)
Giorgos Koumendakis (b.1959)
From Tethys to the Mediterranean (from the suite Mediterranean Desert (1999)
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Pièces de Clavecin, 23ème Ordre, Les Satyres (1730)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (arr. Leonard Borwick) (1894, arr. 1912)
Lina Tonia (b.1985)
Prelude of a lost dream (2020)
François Couperin
Pièces de Clavecin, 4ème Ordre - Les Bacchanales – No. 1 Enjouements bachiques (1713)
Mischa Levitzki (1898-1941)
The Enchanted Nymph (1928)
Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949)
Echo, AK77 (1946)
François Couperin
Pièces de Clavecin, 4ème Ordre - Les Bacchanales - No. 2 Tendresses bachiques (1713)
Pièces de Clavecin, 4ème Ordre - Les Bacchanales - No. 3 Fureurs bachiques (1713)
Florent Schmitt (1870-1958)
Mirages, op. 70, No.1 Et Pan, au fond des blés lunaires, s’accouda (1920-21)
Nestor Taylor (b.1963)
Erinyes (from Huit Clos) (2017)
Nikos Skalkottas
Procession to Acheron, AK79c (c.1948)

CD2
Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Pièces de clavecin, 3ème Suite in D major: No. 8, Les cyclopes (1724)
Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Bacchus – Le bapteme par le vin (arr. Alice Pelliot) (1908)
Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952)
Trois Morceaux, op. 24, no. 2. Valse grotesque (Satyre) (1922)
Dimitri Terzakis (b.1938)
Ein Satyrspiel (2003)
Louis-Claude Daquin (1694-1772)
1ère Suite, No.7 La ronde bachique (1735)
Claude Debussy
Six épigraphies antiques, No. 1 Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d’été; No.4 Pour la danseuse aux crotales (1914)
Dimitris Marangopoulos (b.1949)
Dionysus and the pirates, the voyage from Ikaria to Naxos (1998)
Harry Farjeon (1878-1948)
Pictures from Greece, op.13, (1906)
Paul Juón (1872 - 1940)
Satyre und Nymphen: 9 Miniaturen für klavier, op. 18 (?)
Aspasia Nasopoulou (b.1972)
Krokeatis Lithos-Lakonia (from Raw Rocks) (2017)
Zoe Samsarelou (piano)
rec. 27-28 April 2022. Alternative Stage – Greek National Opera, Athens
Divine Art DDX 21237

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.