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Cover of CDA67054 - Messiaen: Piano Music - Hyperion Records
CDA67054


View sleeve notes/artwork (PDF)
Recording details: January 1998
Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: May 1998
DISCID: A811C20D
Total duration: 75 minutes 32 seconds

'Playing of the highest polish. Fastidiously balanced chords, every detail clear and clean. Rarely, if ever, can Messiaen's piano music have been played with such refinement' (Classic CD)

'Very fine' (Gramophone)

'Hewitt's combined precision and firepower can hold their own in any company' (Classic FM)

'A revelation' (The Scotsman)

'You don't have to believe in paradise to know for a fact that Messiaen's Eight Preludes are the kind of music one would hear there. To put it simply, you will adore these pieces if you like Debussy' (American Record Guide)

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Piano Music
Angela Hewitt (piano)
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LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS
Préludes
1
No 1: La colombe  [2'22]
2
No 2: Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste  [7'17]
3
No 3: Le nombre léger  [2'06]
4
No 4: Instants défunts  [5'01]
5
No 5: Les sons impalpables du rêve  [5'08]
6
No 6: Cloches d'angoisse et larmes d'adieu  [10'13]
7
No 7: Plainte calme  [2'55]
8
No 8: Un reflet dans le vent  [5'21]
Quatre Études de rythme
9
No 1: Île de feu 1  [2'29]
10
No 4: Île fe feu 2  [4'41]
Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus English Français Deutsch
11
No 04: Regard de la Vierge  [5'57]
12
No 15: Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus  [12'30]
13
No 10: Regard de l’Esprit de joie  [9'32]

Angela Hewitt writes …
The music of Olivier Messiaen immediately attracts our attention with its rhythm, variety of colour, technical brilliance, energy, joy, and spirituality. It is incredibly well written for the instrument, even though its difficulties may deter many a player. Audiences are rarely indifferent to it, and for many it has a very powerful effect.

The Préludes were written when Messiaen was about 20 and are remarkable pieces for one so young. They were premiered in 1931. The two 'Islands of Fire' are from his Quatre Études de rythme from 1950 and are dedicated to Papua New Guinea. Messiaen states that his themes are characterized 'by the violence of the magic rites of that country'. He wrote Vingt Regards ('Twenty Contemplations of the Child Jesus') for his wife Yvonne Loriod. In it he uses the piano like an orchestra, demanding a huge range of dynamics, attacks, and timbres.

For this recording my wish was not only to present my favourite works by Messiaen, but also to give the listener an idea of the development of his writing—all on a single disc.

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