QUATUOR POUR LA FIN DU TEMPS Åstrand/Teyssier/Dam Thomsen/Salo

Messiaen
Åstrand (vln); Teyssier (cl); Dam Thomsen (vlc); Salo (pno) 
OUR Recordings (2022)

Written in 1941 whilst incarnated as a POW, Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Quatuor pour la fin du Temps’ (‘Quartet for the End of Time’) shines for ever due its impelling creative insight and resultant beauty. Never more so on a sonically radiant recording from the un-monikered ensemble of Christina Åstrand (violin), Johnny Teyssier (clarinet), Henrik Dam Thomsen (cello), and Per Salo (piano). To be released on May 13th on OUR Recordings.


The work opens with ‘Crystal liturgy,’ enticing, delicate, and gently rhythmic with its repetitive birdcalls. The next movement, ‘Vocalise…’ involves the strike of piano chords in varied tonal balance, interweaving between the melodic lines. There is a surprising jump of style near close as if switching to a new movement already. Which is the clarinet solo ‘Abyss of birds.’ A palatte of nature, and of Grieg, it retains a mystery of achievement; compositionally and in performance. Its timespan (nearing eight minutes) indeed seems to fly. The wondrous ‘Interlude’ was the first piece written for Messiaen’s comrades. As Messiaen explains, it is of “a more individual character than the other movements, but linked to them nevertheless by certain melodic recollections.”


‘Praise to the eternity of Jesus’ is a duet for cello and piano. Despite of or because of its diminished cadences this is arguably the most ‘accessible’ movement, both melodically and harmonically. No less, another work of indescribable beauty. What follows, ‘Dance of fury…’ is a stunning melodic pattern in unison of violin and piano, taken-up by clarinet, before the piece seems to ‘un-structure.’ In so doing, creating structures which still feel new.


‘Tangle of rainbows…’ is likewise extraordinarily contemporary. This intersperses with moments of equally extraordinary melodicism which often (in the context of a full quartet score) centre upon the piano, its trills and cascading chordal sequences. In Messiaen's description: “Music of stone, formidable granite sound; irresistible movement of steel, huge blocks of purple rage, icy drunkenness.” The last movement, ‘Praise to the immortality of Jesus’ is again too beautiful to accord to the written word. Itself a definition of music and beyond, the soaring violin pinned and unpinned by the double ‘chimes’ of the piano.

Exceptionally sensitive playing by four very gifted performers. To be followed only by silence.

– Martin Slidel

Available to purchase here
Further reading at marthasumma.com


#Birdsong #Cello #ChamberMusic #ChristinaÅstrand #Clarinet #HenrikDamThomsen #JohnnyTeyssier #MartinSlidel #Messiaen #MusicReview #NewCD #NewRelease #OURRecordings #PerSalo #Piano #Quartet #QuatuorPourLaFinDuTemps #Violin #WWII

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REPOSE Seidl

Image
Jasmin Seidl, piano Cugate Classics (2021) New from Cugate Classics is a restful collection of original piano pieces by Jasmin Seidl. Gently Minimalist, these offer Glass-like strains although nod to Classical structure and melodicism. Commencing with ‘Sea’, pleasingly underplayed, a glock picks out higher ranges with the percussive aspect of a triangle. If you enjoy Elena Kats-Chernin, you’ll love this: peaceful, calm, serene. The pieces sustain a carillon quality. ‘Sunday Sarabande’ lilts and drifts, with slight shifts of cadence and tempo. ‘Mourning’ proffers slow and ponderous trails in between sets of descendant chords. ‘Lullaby Talk’ repeats its echoey refrain of rising and falling minor thirds – again reminiscent of bells. With ‘Wings’, simple phrases attain tonal height to airily meander. I confess to expecting contrast with ‘Valse Triste’, being in fact a slow stroll in 4/4. Its ‘waltz’ element is a repeating motif in the left hand. ‘Melting’ is indeed so: fluid and dreamy, a ...
Read more

MIRROR IMAGES Vicci

Image
Violeta Vicci, violin; viola; voice Aldilà Records (2020) ‘Mirror Images’ is a mesmerising collection of short works for violin, viola, and voice. A tonic for our times, it comprises truly exceptional performances by Spanish-Swiss performer Violeta Vicci . The album opens with Söderlind’s ‘Elegia II’. Sonorous, melancholy, and graceful, it seems familiar-yet-new. A carefully measured violin recording executed with engaging dynamic contrast. ‘Improvisation I’ is the first of Vicci’s imaginative and personal statements. These intersperse the selection. ‘Improvisation II’ combines ancient and modern dance elements, its gentle cadences strumming like a guitar. ‘Improvisation III’ is wistful, exquisite, whilst ‘Improvisation IV’ draws upon traditional idioms as if an unhinged sea shanty. ‘Improvisation V’ features Vicci’s fluid soprano, echoing the resonance of a bowed string. ‘Improvisation VI’ brings vocal and instrument together, the string seeming to reference a hurdy-gurdy. Bach’s ‘Par...
Read more

REFLECTIONS Kapustin/Jagers

Image
Sarah Kapustin, violin; Roeland Jagers, viola Navis Classics (2020) ‘Reflections’ is a new release from Navis Classics featuring Sarah Kapustin on violin and Roeland Jagers on viola. The duo present a clean yet breathy tone. You often hear the performer’s breath (performers’ breaths) in the exquisite ‘live’ studio production. The phrasing is dynamic and forceful but not forced. It is at the edge of a natural and easy sense of both timbre and rhythm. The collection opens with a series of short and intriguing canons by Josquin des Prez. In order, these form a satisfying narrative. The semi-dissonant cadences resolve with a legitimate melancholy befitting these extraordinary times. It seems to disperse into the resonant and electrifying Martinu ‘Duo’. Like off-kilter Vivaldi, brief, beautiful, but brilliant. ‘Allegro’ and its bookend are stirring and fiery. And, in between, the variant phrases of ‘Lento’ reflect upon the route travelled. A pair of Bach canons arranged by Forbes embody an...
Read more