Messiaen par lui-même

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

Product Details

• Performer: Olivier Messiaen
• Composer: Olivier Messiaen
• Audio CD (May 12, 1992)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002SBX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,574 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound Music, Profound Peformance. Poor Recording., August 23, 2001

By 

S. C Rice - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiaen par lui-même (Audio CD)

One of the peculiarities of the twentieth century is the presence of recordings. If Mendelssohn had wished to hear Bach perform, it was too late; the secrets that Bach held playing his music were forever lost to him. Not many recognized Messiaen during his lifetime as the genius performer and composer that he was, and so now that the chance to hear him in person has passed, those interested must turn to recordings. How fortunate we are to have the recordings, though! It is good that we have records of titans like Bartok, Ives and Messiaen in our vaults! This is a must for any musician and a worthwhile listen for any `layman.' Messiaen was one of the most influential teachers of music in the Twentieth century and has left us some of the most important ovure from the epoch. Listening to a modernist perform his modern works, there is none of the coldness that comes from performers playing the music without understanding it, none of the feeling of listening to a trained bird. Messiaen plays expressing complex and powerful emotions; faith, awe, terror, mystery, majesty. The drawback is, of course, the poor recording that blunts the powerful timbres of the organ. But comparing Messiaen's performance with any that I have heard, I would take this recording before any of the other recordings of Messiaen's music. It is very powerful. Listen especially to the `Pentacost Mass.'One of the best recordings I own. One of the few profound performances recorded.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent (and cheap) intro to Messiaen, April 19, 1999

By 

W. P. Gardner (Menlo Park, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiaen par lui-même (Audio CD)

This was my first Messiaen record. I walked into a record store and they were playing it. "What on earth is that?" I said. They showed me the record and I bought it. It is very intense. Olivier Messiaen plays his own works on organ. (The French title means "Messiaen by himself".) The bad news is that it's mono and a lot of these recordings are from the 50s. That never bothered me with this record. The mono is the only reason I did not give it 5 stars; it's a 5 star mono recording. The good news is that it's 4 CDs for what you'd normally pay for 2. You shouldn't get the impression, though, that this will introduce you to Messiaen's orchestral or piano works, which are pretty different from this.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth It!, December 14, 2005

By 

Philippe Landry (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiaen par lui-même (Audio CD)

When I approached this set I too was worried about the mono recording and the quality of the sound, but then I realized it's Messiaen himself playing his works. The Deutche-Grammaphone box set looks wonderful but to hear the compser play his music as he intended is worth more than stereo.

The music itself is some of the best 20th century classical/experimental. Messiaen's organ works are special. He used a church organ in the way his contemporaries were using tape machines, sine generators, filters and early modular synthesizers. The result is highly luminous and cerebral. The music drifts in and out structure and dissonance. One of the great characteristics about these works is that they all flow from one sound source(the organ), which gives off a feeling of sonic autonomy as if the music were a completely self-perpetuating entity, always existing. Who knew an organ could facilitate so many tones and resonances? "Soixante-quatre durées" is the pinnacle of his experimental endevours.