Messiaen: Petites esquisses d'oiseaux/Catalogue d'oiseaux

Olivier Messiaen (Composer), Håkon Austbø (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Håkon Austbø
• Composer: Olivier Messiaen
• Audio CD (August 5, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B00000149Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, July 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Messiaen: Petites esquisses d'oiseaux/Catalogue d'oiseaux (Audio CD)

Birdcalls are perhaps the sounds in nature that most closely resemble instrumental music, so maybe this is why they can so fascinate people. In addition to this, they are very immediate and there is a certain mystery as to why the motifs are the way they are. Here, Messiaen draws on a seemingly limitless array of harmonies and rhythmic patterns to translate the birdcalls to a "more human scale", as the notes put it. In the Petits Esquisses (Little Sketches), he describes the bird's flight, call, and plumage, but in the much larger Catalogue d'Oiseaux, he also describes the surrounding countryside and other birds in the region. The music is still recognizably birdcall-like in that there are many separate motifs that appear and reappear throughout a movement. In between these motifs appear bass chords and various other configurations which are supposed to represent air currents, reflections in the water, etc. The line between consonance and dissonance is somewhat blurry as the main emphasis is on color and rhythm.

As the reviewer below said, the main attraction is in the nearly endless variety of timbres and colors used in the music. Surely it takes a composer of huge creativity and skill to convincingly describe a scene from nature, but I think Messiaen actually pulls this off. Lastly, hats off to Austbo who plays all two hours and fifty minutes with incredible precision and accuracy.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Birdsong for the New Millenium, August 1, 2002

By 

Christopher Forbes "weirdears" (Brooklyn,, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiaen: Petites esquisses d'oiseaux/Catalogue d'oiseaux (Audio CD)

This collection contains almost all of Messien's bird pieces for solo piano. These are fascinating works. Each piece is a portrait of one bird, whose song Messien painstakingly transcribed and translated into his own modal style. In addition to the main birdsong, most of the pieces also include the songs of several other birds found in the same habitat as the main bird portrayed. Add to that, Messien's penchant for using colorful chords to paint in the background of the scene and this is the most visual music written in the 20th century.

The performance is quite good. I tend to prefer the Peter Hill recordings which were made in the early 90s and reissued by Naxos as well, but these are quite welcome. At the Naxos price, they are quite a bargain, so even if you find that you don't listen to the entire collection often, you may find yourself coming back to individual pieces over and over again.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Music.Amazing pianist, June 29, 2008

By 

Osvaldo Colarusso "Osvaldo Colarusso" (Curitiba, Paraná Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messiaen: Petites esquisses d'oiseaux/Catalogue d'oiseaux (Audio CD)

The music of Catalogue is by far one of the bests of Messiaen. The sound is free, like the birds. I listened this record with all the scores ( so expensive)in hand.This pianist is a phenomena : he plays everything is written . And the sound is always beautiful. The Catalogue is a consequence of Debussy. The music is atonal without rules . The pianists have the obligation to play that so important and beautiful music.And, one more time, bravo for the pianist.