Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut

Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut

Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut
List Price: $10.38
Our Price: $10.34
You Save: $6.60 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.08 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album

Compare Prices for Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut

(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Composer: Olivier Messiaen
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1995-10-17
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
  1. Chronochromie: Introduction
  2. Chronochromie: Strophe I
  3. Chronochromie: Antistrophe I
  4. Strophe II
  5. Antistrophe II
  6. Epode
  7. Coda
  8. La Ville d'en haut
  9. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum: I.
  10. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum: II.
  11. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum: III.
  12. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum: IV.
  13. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum: V.

Free Music Notes for Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut

Free Music Review: Masterly music in wonderful performances
Hit: 5 Stars

I think the often used criticisms of Boulez as being `overly clinical' or `overly analytical' is (often) misguided, but it is certainly true that he strives more than anything to achieve clarity of textures and structures. In that sense, this is a cunningly put together program that really plays up Boulez's strength - both in Exspecto and in Chronocromie one of the main challenges for an interpreter is exactly to prevent the rich textures from constricting. At the time this recording was made the Cleveland Orchestra was (according to the conductor) rather unfamiliar with Messiaen's music, and while the performances here certainly do not suggest lack of skill or understanding, there is a certain freshness and sense of discovery in these performances (well, I may be imagining it, but nonetheless) that is particularly appealing.

Chronochromie (`the color of time') from 1960 is cast in seven imposing structures (the durations of that are mathematically determined) that reflects Messiaen's passion with birdsong and with mountains (and manipulating musical durations based on note values). In Chronocromie, development in the normal sense is eschewed in favor of stasis and repetition; it is a spectacular piece, however, with the fluttering woodwind and percussion birdsong against the monstrous mountains of low winds, humming and droning with grand, rocky chords in between the sounds of water and streams. Despite its strict, formal, mathematical basis of various permutations of tone durations here related to his idea about "modes of limited transposition", the work is really a big tone poem depicting a natural world without people and therefore without time. The culmination is surely the "Epode", where eighteen bird songs (in the strings) simultaneously cry out for more than four minutes (if it sounds like chaos I assure you that it really creates an amazing kaleidoscope of sound - it is, by the way, a really difficult part and excellently executed on this recording, sounding clearer and more vivid than I would have imagined possible while still realizing the sense of timelessness).

Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum is scored for 34 winds and percussion ensemble, and is still infused with Messiaen's fascination with mountains - it is a monumental, imaginative work that also creates the impression of time suspended, but is imbued with more of an sense of expectation and forward looking than Chronochromie. It is cast in five "blocks" where the first is a monophonic chant, the second a dialogue (commenced by a six note lightning flash theme - according to the composer the melodic character of the theme is defined by the decay of the notes rather than their attack, and Boulez captures that point wonderfully) turning into a chorale. In the third there is symbol-heavy use of bird-song, whereas the fourth represents resurrection in all it flashy, monumental glory (I assume), and the sixth represents the chant of the first block leading to a colorful sequence of chords.

The disc also gives us La ville d'en haut, scored for winds, percussion and piano - an almost `ethereally colorful' work - a shaft of white light that contains all the colors - it is scored for winds, percussion and piano and cast in contrasting textural sections (full of playful bird song and chorale-like material offset by shimmering colors from the piano and percussion, as usual). Though I do agree that the contents of this late work consist of gestures we have heard before from the composer, the end result is still endlessly fascinating. Throughout all three works the playing is beyond reproach, realizing a clarity and rhythmic precision, and at the same time sense of wonder, that has rarely if ever been achieved elsewhere. The sound quality is fine - clean and clear and with a good dynamic ranger. In short, this is a very strongly recommended release of dazzlingly, masterly music in marvelous performances.
Write your own review
More free music notes:
1 2

Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: $20.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Top Rated Albums
Varese: Arcana; Ameriques; Ionization; Offrandes; Density 21.5; Octandre; Integrales ImageVarese: Arcana; Ameriques; Ionization; Offrandes; Density 21.5; Octandre; Integrales
Release date: 1991-01-14; Music CD
Best price: $4.41
Price in other shops: $7.99
Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47 ImageSchoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/ Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47
HAHN,HILARY; Release date: 2008-04-08; Music CD
Best price: $8.22
Price in other shops: $16.98
Olivier Messiaen: Des Canyons aux Etoiles; Oiseaux Exotiques; Couleurs de la Cité Celeste ImageOlivier Messiaen: Des Canyons aux Etoiles; Oiseaux Exotiques; Couleurs de la Cité Celeste
Release date: 1989-06-23; Music CD
Best price: $119.94
Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'Au-delà ImageOlivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'Au-delà
Release date: 2004-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops: $16.98
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time ImageOlivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
MESSIAEN,O.; Release date: 1989-08-11; Music CD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops: $8.99
Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise / van Dam, Upshaw, Nagano ImageMessiaen: Saint François d'Assise / van Dam, Upshaw, Nagano
Release date: 1999-08-10; Music CD
Best price: $40.95
Price in other shops: $67.98
Olivier Messiaen: Concert à Quatre ImageOlivier Messiaen: Concert à Quatre
Release date: 1995-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops: $17.98
Hommage a Messiaen: 8 Preludes; Selection from: Quatre Etudes de rythme ImagePierre-Laurent Aimard - Hommage a Messiaen: 8 Preludes; Selection from: Quatre Etudes de rythme
Release date: 2008-10-14; Music CD
Best price: $8.36
Price in other shops: $16.98
Olivier Messiaen: Des Canyons aux Étoiles ImageOlivier Messiaen: Des Canyons aux Étoiles
Release date: 2003-01-14; Music CD
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops: $33.98
Olivier Messiaen: Turangalila-Symphonie ImageOlivier Messiaen: Turangalila-Symphonie
Release date: 1992-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $9.71
Price in other shops: $16.98
Books | Health and Personal Care | Beauty | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware
Copyright © 2005-2007 musicnear.com
Google
 
Web musicnear.com
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles