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Pierre-Laurent Aimard Archive

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra / Simon Rattle (cond) / Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) – LSO Live 

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra / Simon Rattle (cond) / Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) – LSO Live 

by | May 16, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews, DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Two very different composers in one concert by the LSO. BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8; MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste – London Symphony Orchestra cond. by Simon Rattle – pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard – LSO Live Blu-ray and DVD LSO 3042 TT: 104 minutes (5/11/18)  ***: Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra are joined by French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard in a concert that brings together music by Anton Bruckner and Olivier Messiaen: two composers as united in their devotion to the Catholic faith as they are different in their style of music. The disc begins with Bruckner’s Symphony No.8, with Rattle leading the LSO through its 1939 edition. The eighth was Bruckner’s last complete symphony, it has since become characterized by its explosive, dramatic nature and immense scale. Taking Bruckner over five years to compose and revise, it would only be performed three times whilst he was alive. In rather stark contrast to the magnitude of Bruckner’s eighth, Messiaen’s Couleurs de la Cité Céleste lasts just over quarter of an hour. The 20th century work comprises sequences of short episodes and serves as a microcosm of the composer’s various preoccupations, from birdsong to the book of Revelations. Centered on […]