Search - Olivier Messiaen, Myung-Whun Chung, Bastille Opera Orchestra :: Olivier Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà (Illuminations of the Beyond)

People need to hear this

Androcleas | Novosibirsk, Russia | 04/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Beautiful

droitcob@carleton.edu | Northfield, MN | 05/16/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Messiaen's masterpiece that unites his spirit and technique

droitcob@carleton.edu | 10/08/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eclairs sur l'au-dela (Flashes from the distant beyond) was Messiaen's last orchestral piece. It uses exotic techniques such as bird song, Hindu raga rhythm, Gregorian chant, and modes of limited transposition in a large, multi-movement orchestral piece. The orchestra features an expanded percussion section. Those who know and love Messiaen's musc will greatly enjoy L'eclairs sur l'eau-dela. It convincingly integrates the diverse techniques into a final spiritual statement. Those who do not know Messiaen's music will find this piece to be a great introduction to a twentieth-century giant who assimilated Debussy and Schoenberg while writing in his unique compostional voice. The French performance lacks some of the weight and power that the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta brought to this work at its premiere at Avery Fisher Hall. The interpretation is bright and crisp when needed and sensous in the more meditative moments."