Rondeau (Messiaen) - from CDA67366 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘There is much to savour in Osborne and Roscoe's performance, captured in typically superlative Hyperion sound’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The precision and muscular virtuosity of Osborne's and Roscoe's playing is exactly what breathes life into the explicitly 'visionary' character of the work … the performance is lucid in conception and illuminating in its realization. Never laboured, it's marked throughout by a sense of ease, as well as by a sure sense of structure, of rhythmic detail, and of the diverse function and significance of each of the many layers in its complex 'mix' (International Record Review)

‘This performance gets the balance between the blistering, ecstatic intensity and the static moments of contemplation exactly right, presenting all the rhythmic and harmonic layers with perfect clarity, while Osborne's accounts of the three earlier solo pieces are a real bonus’ (The Guardian)

‘Roscoe's piano handles most of the thematic material and the piano's lower reaches; Osborne supplies the iridescent details. Clarity and rhythmic precision cannot be faulted’ (The Times)

‘These pianists have a marvellous accord in Messiaen's amazing, clangorous, rapturous, visionary jamboree. Only a pile-up of adjectives, to which should be added coruscating and addictively dithyrambic, could do justice’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Played with an ear-tweaking sensitivity and gripping sense of theatre. Exceptionally fine sound, and exemplary notes from Nigel Simeone, complete an outstanding release’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘The playing of these two wonderful pianists is flawlessly gauged and concentrated, with Osborne's high-speed, lucid playing in the finale, as it shifts into overdrive in its final section, out of this world’ (The Herald)

‘Osborne and Roscoe play with dazzling splendour’ (Manchester Evening News)

In late February 1943, Messiaen had been asked by the Director of the Paris Conservatoire, Claude Delvincourt, to write a test piece for that summer’s competition, and the result was the Rondeau. Though written at the same time as Visions de l’Amen, is it musically much less adventurous, and the demands here are largely technical; in other words, Messiaen produced the kind of piece that was expected of him. Among those to win premiers prix were Loriod herself and the composer-pianist Jean-Michel Damase.

A la fin de février 1943, le directeur du Conservatoire de Paris, Claude Delvincourt, avait demandé à Messiaen d’écrire un morceau de concours pour l’été. C’est ainsi que naquit Rondeau. Si cette œuvre fut écrite en même temps que Visions de l’Amen, elle est bien moins aventureuse du point de vue musical tandis que les exigences techniques sont considérablement élevées. En d’autres termes, Messiaen produisit le genre de morceau qu’on attendait de lui. Parmi ceux qui remportèrent des Premier Prix figurent Loriod et le compositeur-pianiste Jean-Michel Damase.

Ende Februar 1943 war Messiaen vom Direktor aus Pariser Conservatoire, Claude Delvincourt, gebeten worden, ein Pflichtstück für den im Sommer anstehenden Wettbewerb zu schreiben, und das Resultat war das Rondeau. Obwohl es zur gleichen Zeit wie die Visions de l’Amen komponiert wurde, wagt es sich in musikalischer Hinsicht weit weniger ins Neuland vor, und die Schwierigkeiten sind hautsächlich spieltechnischer Natur. In anderen Worten: Messiaen schuf ein Stück, wie es von ihm erwartet wurde. Zu den Gewinnern eines ersten Preises zählten Loriod und der komponierende Pianist Jean-Michel Damase.

Recording details: September 2003
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: October 2004
Total duration: 2 minutes 20 seconds

Rondeau

Steven Osborne (piano)

Reviews

Introduction