Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond) [Import]

Olivier Messiaen (Composer), Myung-Whun Chung (Conductor), Bastille Opera Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Bastille Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung
• Composer: Olivier Messiaen
• Audio CD (August 16, 1994)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Dg Imports
• ASIN: B000001GMD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,481 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #95 in Music > Imports > Opera & Vocal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Airbourne Messiaen, June 8, 2008

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond) (Audio CD)

Olivier Messiaen's Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond) may not be as familiar to audiences of the French mystic's music as his earlier works, but for this listener this valedictory work contains not only echoes of his recurring musical language of birdsongs, vaporous clouds, and recreations of the atmospheres beyond this planet, but it is in many ways a summation of his rich imagination and contribution to the world of music. It is a 65-minute work composed for a large orchestra (128 instrumentalists), but each of the eleven 'movements' uses a different combination of instruments - from tutti orchestra, to sub-orchestras of expanded woodwinds, brass and an extensive array of percussion instruments. The result is a luminous and transcendent work that serves as the wise musical poet's summation of his vision of the 'beyond' -a space of enormous beauty that he seems to be describing as one who sees it closely in his final moments on earth.

Myung-Whun Chung conducts the Bastille Opera Orchestra in an unfettered, direct from the score, honest performance. While the Bastille Opera Orchestra may not be among the major ensembles in the world, Chung manages to mold a performance from this ensemble that literally glows with airbourne beauty. The solo choir passages are clean, precise, and yet still manage to emerge and submerge into the fabric of the work, making the tutti passages almost unbearably 'holy'.

For those who are not familiar with this final work by Messiaen, the best approach to listening to it is to ignore the written word and simply submit to the suspension of time this beautiful score encourages. And after 'experiencing' the music, then reading the titles of the eleven movements and exploring the words of the master enhances the appreciation. Writing about Messiaen's music is difficult at best, if not rather impossible. The strength of his music is in the experience in which he transports the listener: all else is secondary. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, June 08

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People need to hear this, April 25, 2003

By 

Androcleas "Androcleas" (Novosibirsk, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond) (Audio CD)

ok - well this is good - This piece was the first Messiaen I heard. I heard it on radio about three times - first hearing, I thought it was very odd and really quite rubbish - the next couple of hearings I was still cynical, but I had never heard anything quite like it before, and it kind of drew me - I started to find the the 5th and 6th movements mesmerizing, as well as the final movement. I eventually ended up buying it on CD - and it is an impressive piece.
I have now listened to some other Messiaen pieces, including Turangalila, the Quartet for the end of Time, Et Exspecto, Des Canyons aux etoiles and Livre du Saint Sacrement which are v good, and I don't know whether or not I would say this is the best, but it has more of a serenely majestic feel to it. The fifth movement is the most ecstatic music I have ever heard, the first movement is a fantastic piece - totally static - it seems to make the piece move outside of time at the very outset. Much of the work consists of a sort of spiritual ecstasy mixed with genuine awe, with scattered birdsong - which acts like a sort of 'small' quality showing that God, whilst majestic and awesome, and awesomely loving, is also beautiful and approachable.
This is music that many people 'won't get' which is a pity, as I think it presents something almost wholly unique in our western society let alone music - we have a busy society which always has to be places, and never feels it can be timeless. This is music that reaches into another world - as indicated in its title - which is far away from our western lives of appointments, meetings and merely forming interest cultures.
The last thing I want to see is this sort of music representing some kind of pretentious modern music culture - it is important stuff - and needs to be heard by a wide range of people. - Not everyone will like it on first hearing- perhaps very few will - but people should work at understanding what is going on and not be scared - after all its difficult to get on with any really good music - even more 'normal' stuff unless you've lived with it a bit. I get quite irritated by people running away from this stuff scared, and I also get irritated by people moaning about the precise quality of some bit of the performance or conductor's pace or something like its important.
End of diatribe - just go listen - and if it seems odd - listen again - and again - perhaps listen to other similar stuff - and don't do it just because you want to show off how educated you are - but give in time and you'll appreciate it. In the future, I think Messiaen may well come to be seen as as important as characters like Mozart or Beethoven or Wagner or Mahler - but this has a different feel - and this is its timelessness.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, May 16, 1999

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[e-mail] (Northfield, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond) (Audio CD)

Messiaen writes the most beautiful slow music, and Eclairs sur l'au-dela provides plenty of proof, from the sustained silences in the first movement to the gradual ascension in the last. Myung-Whun Chung is the definitive interpreter of Messiaen, and I highly recommend this recording.