Vingt Regards Su L'Enfant Jesus

Messiaen (Artist), Loriod (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 3, 1993)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000005EAE
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,823 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: I - Regard du Pere

2. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: II - Regard de l'etoile

3. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: III - L'echange

4. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: IV - Regard de la Vierge

5. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: V - Regard du Fils sur le Fils

6. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: VI - Par lui tout a ete fait

7. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: VII - Regard de La Croix

8. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: VIII - Regard des hauteurs

9. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: IX - Regard du Temps

10. Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus: X - Regard de l'Esprit de joie

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. XII - La Parole toute puissante

2. XIII - Noel

3. XIV - Regard des Anges

4. XV - Le baiser de L'Enfant Jesus

5. XVI - Regard des prophetes, des bergers et des mages

6. XVII - Regard du silence

7. XVIII - Regard de l'Onction terrible

8. XIX - Je dors mais mon coeur veille

9. XX - Regard de l'Eglise d'amour

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vintage and definitive, quite effective, January 20, 2000

By 

Czinczar (Southeast Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vingt Regards Su L'Enfant Jesus (Audio CD)

An impressive recording by Yvonne Loriod, the composer's wife. This woman could play with great power, which serves the music well in the appropriate places. Though some might find that she didn't bring enough quietness and introspection to the places where those qualities are needed. But her interpretation could be considered to be beyond questioning, since her husband Messiaen was there at her side during the recording session. It must have been exactly what the composer intended. This recording was actually made in 1973. Analog recording was wonderful back then, with great clarity and depth, and a feel for the acoustics of the recording space. To some degree, this works to this recording's disadvantage. It was recorded at the Eglise Notre-Dame du Liban in Paris. The traffic outside the church is quite noticable, especially in the quiet passages, which somewhat breaks the mood. But the recording's plusses far outweigh its minuses. A definitive and recommended recording.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars extroverted interpretation here, testament to modernity, August 6, 2001

By 

scarecrow "scarecrow" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Vingt Regards Su L'Enfant Jesus (Audio CD)

The recent Aimard CD of this work as well as the earlier Hakon Austbo on Naxos is another,all are different,it's incredible the amount, the traces one may find in this one-dimensional conceptually that is colossol work for the piano,for Messiaen had veritably alone created a new language of timbral pianism,he did the same for organ registrations, never quite heard before timbres. I've been in love with Loriod ever since I've owned the old Vega Vinyl of her Boulez Second Piano Sonata. Incredibly extroverted playing, yet she knows how to deeply probe the creativity,what's the sensibility, the spirit, the mysteries of creativity. She understood the young Boulez deeply, You'd think with Messiaen even more, yet as other reviewers here say,I agree she tilts the sclaes, she pummeles the work forward all the way, even the relatively passive # 4 Regard de la Vierge, marked "tendre et naif" in the music Loriod pushes forward. The # 6 "Par lui tout a ete fait, the most violent here on Disc 1 she gets sloppy, and unwantonly ugly, with the repeated almost animal like tones. She has great sense of projection of Messian's fistfulls of tones,cluster like. Loriod I think if there is one word to sum up her interpretive sensibility it is gesture, like the tender opening "Regard du Pere" Those repeated tinkly like tones if not paced and played a little off the rhythm can sound like an alarm bell,as Aimard. One nice aspect is she doesn't make this piece into one for the pipe organ as Austbo does with his thunderous octaves as in #3 L'echange". Loriod is always beyond this piece,whereas Aimard I enjoyed for he allows the piece to work its own charm, probe its own mysteries, Aimard steps back,not nearly as extroverted. But all know this piece is a testament to modernity,never afraid of being klangorous for its own sake,that a spirituality exists within the pure power of timbre, one of god's creations. There are great cascades of timbres here scouring the entire regions, and registers of the keyboard. Messiaen's musical language wasn't yet enamored over bird calls which began appearing everyplace blandly and as an obsession,This work is from right after or during the Second World War 1944, also his typical chordal excursions, was also a frequent occurrence in his latter music. Here we should thank the stars, "etoiles" that his musical language seemed to simply relish in the pure timbre of the piano, clusters, as fast as possible high register filigrees,roaring octaves,and impenetrable rhythmic convolutions.Other times the middle register is simply ommitted, when this happenes the piano percussive constitution comes to full blossum.Structurally the work breaks no new ground, it is buily on cyclical themes.