Messiaen, O.: Chants De Terre Et De Ciel / 3 Melodies / La Mort Du Nombre / Theme and Variations

Suzie Leblanc, Lawrence Wiliford, Laura Andriani, Robert Kortgaard

Released on 01/09/2008 by ATMA Classique
Main artists: Suzie Leblanc Lawrence Wiliford Laura Andriani Robert Kortgaard
Genre: Classical

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This elegant release includes some of Messiaen's most accessible early vocal and chamber music. The music's roots in the French musical culture of the early twentieth century is plainly evident, so the CD should appeal to fans of gentle post-Impressionism. The music is still recognizably Messiaen; his distinctive harmonies and idiosyncratic sense of rhythm are apparent, but this is the composer at his most sensual, without the spikiness or austerity that characterize some of his later work. These pieces were all written when the composer was in his twenties. The most substantial work here is the song cycle Chants de terre et de ciel, which Messiaen wrote to his own texts for his wife. The saturated harmonies and fluid rhythms give the music a sinuous and almost erotic intensity. There are many moments when the music achieves an ecstatic stillness, in which time seems suspended. Canadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc has a voice with the purity and immaculate intonation that the songs (which were long considered virtually unsingable) require technically, as well as the interpretive sensitivity to make them shimmer. The nuanced playing of pianist Robert Kortgaard immeasurably contributes to the luster of the performance. They bring the same finesse to Trois mélodies, which the composer wrote as a student, but which are already marked with his unmistakable sound. La morte du nombre, a short cantata scored for soprano, tenor, violin, and piano, is also a very early work; it inhabits the same aesthetic sphere: late Impressionism evolving into the composer's own distinctive style. It's simply a gorgeous piece. Tenor Lawrence Wiliford and violinist Laura Andriani join LeBlanc and Kortgaard in a radiant performance. The CD also includes two short pieces for violin and piano, Vocalise and Thème et variations. Atma's sound is spectacularly present and vivid.

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Messiaen, O.: Chants De Terre Et De Ciel / 3 Melodies / La Mort Du Nombre / Theme and Variations

Suzie Leblanc

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