Messiaen

The Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra join forces with pianist Yuja Wang and announce their upcoming album which features a stunning rendition of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie. The recording celebrates the 75th anniversary of the work’s premiere in 1949. Most notably, it was originally commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra itself via their pioneering music director, Serge Koussevitsky.

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)

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

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)

Messiaen's Catalog of Birds for piano is one of the wonders of modern music, a work apart from schools, movement, intellectual constructions, and programmatic declarations concerning the future of music. Perhaps the engaging, enigmatic, spellbinding nature of this music proceeds from Messiaen's unique source of inspiration: birdsong. Non-human, the source of Messiaen's music is nevertheless not alien since Messiaen celebrates the sounds of nature, which he, as a devout Catholic, experiences as a divine creation. It's difficult to imagine a better interpreter of Messiaen's powerful visions than pianist Anatol Ugorski, who plunges himself into Messiaen's spiritual universe with the passionate abandon of a devoted seeker.

When this recording first appeared in 1968 it was something of a ground-breaker. It was made during the years (1965-1969) that Seiji Ozawa was Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The booklet note claims that this was the first recording of the work made in the Western hemisphere.

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.