Messiaen Turangalîla Symphony
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Olivier Messiaen, Witold Lutoslawski
Label: Red Seal
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 113
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 09026 61520-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Un) sourire |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Marek Janowski, Conductor Olivier Messiaen, Composer |
| Turangalîla Symphony |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Marek Janowski, Conductor Olivier Messiaen, Composer Roger Muraro, Piano Valérie Hartmann-Claverie, Ondes martenot |
| Concerto for Orchestra |
Witold Lutoslawski, Composer
French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Marek Janowski, Conductor Witold Lutoslawski, Composer |
Composer or Director: Olivier Messiaen
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 436 626-2DH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Turangalîla Symphony |
Olivier Messiaen, Composer
(Royal) Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano Olivier Messiaen, Composer Riccardo Chailly, Conductor Takashi Harada, Ondes martenot |
Author:
Having discussed the virtues of Turangalila-symphonies past and present in the light of Myung-Whun Chung's hitherto uniquely economical version, I can confirm that these new contenders continue the trend to streamlined articulation and faster speeds. For many readers Riccardo Chailly's sensational recording will be an obvious first choice. Decca's sound is brilliant, detailed and just a little airless, emphasizing the Concertgebouw's astonishing unanimity of attack. (Both engineers and musicians are perhaps less preoccupied with achieving a real pianissimo.) The soloists are closely balanced—not unacceptably so—but this does again serve to exaggerate the impersonal mechanistic aspects of Messiaen's writing. Let's be clear: I have never heard this unprecedented score unleashed with greater panache than it is here. Chailly's interpretation is thrilling; it can also be brutal. If you hear the beautiful ''Jardin du sommeil d'amour'' as the sublime heart of a quasi-religious hymn to earthly life and love, this is not the performance for you. Jean-Yves Thibaudet has an astounding technique, but his tone remains rather hard and unvaried even here and Chailly's straightforward rendition sounds almost cavalier beside Rattle's rapt and delicate treatment. For Chailly, you suspect, this is no more than a decorative interlude in a fabulous orchestral showpiece. In ''Turangalila I'', there is no hint of Gallic insouciance in the bass, although ''Chant d'amour II'' is witty enough at the start. Yes, Chailly is supremely efficient, ultra-sensitive he is not. He also has a questionable penchant for holding on to climactic chords for what seems like an eternity, most outrageously at the very end of the ''Final''.
If Chung's performance seems tame after Chailly's metronome-bursting assault, so too does Janowski's, despite clocking in at a nifty 75'26''. As with Chung, only more so, Janowski's seamless pacing does not give him the space to empower rhetorical gestures with emotional clout. He is not bereft of interesting ideas. ''Turangalila I'' is quite different from Chailly's, with a huskier ondes martenot plumbing mysterious depths in its opening dialogue with clarinet. He finds more light and shade in the ''Jardin du sommeil d'amour'', and I was struck by his extreme broadening of tempo for the very last statement of the 'love theme', directly relating it to the devotional world ofL'ascension. Chailly prefers the fairground to the organ loft—his ''Final'', like his ''Joie du sang des etoiles'', is staggeringly fast—and unlike Janowski he has an orchestra which can articulate at speed. Janowski's decent, integrated, somewhat opaque French Radio recording lacks the hi-tech sheen of its rivals, but what puts his version out of the reckoning is its illogical presentation.
Back in 1987, CBS would have won praise for repackaging Esa-Pekka Salonen's two-disc Turangalila with any sort of coupling; in fact, we were offered fine, back-catalogue Lutoslawski—the Third Symphony and Les espaces du sommeil. It was scarcely necessary for RCA to follow suit, given that their main work fits snugly on to a single CD, yet Janowski has more Lutoslawski, his relatively traditional Concerto for Orchestra, plus the CD premiere of Messiaen's delightful Mozart bicentennial commission, Un sourire. MEO's note wisely avoids straining to make sense of a disparate bill of fare.
How to sum up? There are still no bad recordings of Turangalila, and only Janowski seems an obvious non-runner: RCA's extra disc plays for less than 38 minutes and cuts across the more sensible pairings for Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra as proposed by Dohnanyi and Barenboim. Purchasing Rattle's EMI set remains the safest course for those (prepared to take in a little excess baggage) who like their Messiaen multifaceted and their ondes martenot relatively discreet. Whether Chailly's single CD contains the definitive presentation of the work's 'symphonic' tensions and contrasts I am inclined to doubt, but my goodness—hear him you must!'
If Chung's performance seems tame after Chailly's metronome-bursting assault, so too does Janowski's, despite clocking in at a nifty 75'26''. As with Chung, only more so, Janowski's seamless pacing does not give him the space to empower rhetorical gestures with emotional clout. He is not bereft of interesting ideas. ''Turangalila I'' is quite different from Chailly's, with a huskier ondes martenot plumbing mysterious depths in its opening dialogue with clarinet. He finds more light and shade in the ''Jardin du sommeil d'amour'', and I was struck by his extreme broadening of tempo for the very last statement of the 'love theme', directly relating it to the devotional world of
Back in 1987, CBS would have won praise for repackaging Esa-Pekka Salonen's two-disc Turangalila with any sort of coupling; in fact, we were offered fine, back-catalogue Lutoslawski—the Third Symphony and Les espaces du sommeil. It was scarcely necessary for RCA to follow suit, given that their main work fits snugly on to a single CD, yet Janowski has more Lutoslawski, his relatively traditional Concerto for Orchestra, plus the CD premiere of Messiaen's delightful Mozart bicentennial commission, Un sourire. MEO's note wisely avoids straining to make sense of a disparate bill of fare.
How to sum up? There are still no bad recordings of Turangalila, and only Janowski seems an obvious non-runner: RCA's extra disc plays for less than 38 minutes and cuts across the more sensible pairings for Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra as proposed by Dohnanyi and Barenboim. Purchasing Rattle's EMI set remains the safest course for those (prepared to take in a little excess baggage) who like their Messiaen multifaceted and their ondes martenot relatively discreet. Whether Chailly's single CD contains the definitive presentation of the work's 'symphonic' tensions and contrasts I am inclined to doubt, but my goodness—hear him you must!'
Messiaen/Lutoslawski Orchestral Works
Messiaen Turangalîla Symphony
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