László Borbély Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue D'oiseaux (2020)

Herbert von Karajan isn’t alone in celebrating his 100th birthday this year. Among composers whose 100th anniversary falls in 2008, Olivier Messiaen (10 December) is definitely the most important To whet your appetites for further releases in this anniversary year, here is a 1-CD midprice compilation of Messiaen’s ecstatic slow movements: a sequence of eight movements from major works that together make an unforgettable impression: supple in rhythm, subtle in melody and incredibly rich in harmony. Almost like variations on a theme (with plenty of F sharp major too!), the 70-minute disc is uniquely relaxing and moving at the same time – by no means the usual pot-pourri compilation.

La seule réalité se situe dans le domaine de la Foi. C’est par la rencontre avec un Autre que nous pouvons le comprendre. Mais il faut passer par la mort et la Résurrection, ce qui suppose le saut hors du temps. Assez étrangement, la musique peut nous y préparer, comme image, comme reflet, comme symbole. En effet, la musique est un perpétuel dialogue entre l’espace et le temps, entre le son et la couleur, dialogue qui aboutit à une unification. Le musicien qui pense, voit, entend, parle au moyen de ces notions fondamentales, peut, dans une certaine mesure, s’approcher de l’Au-delà.

Olivier Messiaen - Rudolf Innig - Livre du Saint Sacrament
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 430 MB | Full Artwork: 187 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 317 0623-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1998
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Organ

"…Each gesture, each interpretive nuance – and there are numerous reminders that Innig’s performance is personal and distinct – serves to enhance Messiaen’s faith. So one cannot escape the devout mystery and probity that Rudolf Innig brings in such full measure to the Livre du Saint Sacrement. This performance promises to invigorate the soul." (Fanfare)

Britain's Dame Gillian Weir is one of the world's foremost musical artists. Her unique career as an internationally acclaimed concert organist, performing worldwide at the great festivals and with leading orchestras and conductors, has established her as a distinguished musician. She is known for her virtuosity, integrity and outstanding musicianship, which combined with a notable personal charisma, have placed her in the forefront of her profession and won her the admiration of audiences and critics alike.

Portuguese pianist Daniel Bernardes studied both composition (with Emmanuel Nunes and Karlheinz Stockhausen) and jazz (with Carlos Barretto and João Paulo Esteves da Silva, two names of the Clean Feed catalogue). “Liturgy of the Birds” comes from his explorations of Olivier Messiaen's compositional techniques, applied here to a jazz setting, bringing together a piano jazz trio (with double bassist António Augusto Aguiar and drummer Mário Costa, the same of “Oxy Patina” and the Emile Parisien Sfumato Quintet) with Drumming GP, an international reference in the world of modern percussion. "Liturgy of the Birds" is an hommage to Olivier Messiaen, alluding to his profound devotion to Christianity and his love of the birds to the point of notating and using their chants throughout his works. To Bernardes, «the language of Messiaen is a possible path to contemporary jazz», and listening to this astonishing record we have to agree with him. If you’re searching for something new and surprising, search no more: here it is.

Mystic: The Musical Visions of Olivier Messiaen is a sort of greatest-hits package for Messiaen that followed in the wake of the composer's death in 1992, though it did not appear until 1996. It is a Messiaen compilation that shapes certain movements taken out of longer works into a sort of easy listening context, which does provide some clues to the uninitiated as to how to access Messiaen, but in itself, it is a little disingenuous. There are no transcribed birdcalls, no "Chronochromie," nothing from "Quatour du le fin de temps," nor anything else that indicates what a challenging and intense composer Messiaen was. Just the prettiest parts of some pieces that are not in themselves necessarily very "pretty," couched in a sort of vaguely stated mysticism. The individual movements themselves are certainly well done and recorded—all of them are taken from the exemplary work of conductor Myung-Whun Chung for Deutsche Grammophon, recordings that Messiaen himself regarded as authoritative. But these pieces deserve to be heard in the context to which they belong, even if it is part of an unwieldy and sometimes messy 10-movement symphony such as the "Turangilila." However, as a disc with which to get one's feet wet in Messiaen, Mystic is not so bad—just bear in mind that there are a lot more ingredients to Messiaen's celestial banquet than this disc would imply.

Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide