Horizon 2 – A Tribute to Oliver Messiaen = DUKAS (arr. Keulen): La plainte, au loin, du faune…; MESSIAEN: Les offrandes oubliees; Chronochromie; MARC-ANDRE DALBAVIE: La source d’un regard; ROB ZUIDAM: Adam-Interludes – RCO/George Benjamin and Ingo Metzmacher, conductors – RCO Live multichannel SACD 09003, 72:31 **** [Distrib. by Harmonia mundi]:
This is one of the Concertgebouw’s modern music series of concerts recorded live, and dedicated to a theme—this time the music of Oliver Messiaen. I was a little unsure as to what to expect—though I am a fan of Messiaen, the idea of modern day look-alikes inhabiting the same concert platform as the eminent Frenchman was a little scary—do we really want to hear Messiaen clones strut their musical wares?
But lo and behold, this turns out to be a terrific album. First the Messiaen performances—top-flight and easily as good as any on the market, especially the early Les offrandes oubliees, a magnificent rendering by George Benjamin that I would particularly recommend to those just coming to Messiaen, or those who thought that they should be afraid of him. The more advanced Chronochromie has many excellent performances on disc, none better than what we get here.
The Dukas work is a lark—nicely scored from the original piano, but not necessary, nonetheless a fine opener. Dalbavie’s La source d’un regard takes some Messiaen “tunes” as inspiration, and ends up a magnificent contemporary composition, with great harmonies, beautifully construed orchestrations, and an easily followed plan of attack—the sonorities alone are worth a listen.
Finally, the Adam-Interludes by Rob Zuidam are interludes taken from his opera Adam in Exile, a theme Messiaen would certainly have approved, using themes from the different sections of the work, reconstituted here a la Britten’s reordering of the Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes. It is stickier than the other pieces here and slightly more esoteric, but still worth knowing. All in all, a terrific program in stunning surround sound—the orchestra is magnificent. The sound worlds in these compositions are really worth reveling in.
— Steven Ritter
