Search - Olivier Messiaen, Olivier Latry, Roger Muraro :: Olivier Messiaen Complete Edition [Box Set]

Messiaen Complete Edition, a collection not to be missed

Y.P. | Mount Messiaen, Utah | 02/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The year of 2008 marks Messiaen centenary (1908-1992), and many major labels have issued or reissued various Messiaen box sets. Among them, 2 sets stand out: Messiaen Edition from Warner Classics/Erato and the current set Messiaen Complete Edition from Deutsche Grammophon. They are both excellent. Significantly, both include very substantial booklets which contain useful background information of the music. The choice comes down to your financial resources and musical preferences, which will be explained below.



DG's Messiaen Complete Edition is easily the most satisfying choice. Not only because of its comprehensiveness, all of Messiaen's works in 32 discs, but also because of the very high standard of performance maintained in this big set. Indeed, many of the performances are either performed/conducted by the composer's pupils: Yvonne Loriod, Myung-Whun Chung, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, or recorded/rehearsed in the composer's presence. The latter includes, notably, Argerich--Kremer's Thème et Variations, and Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps. This collection even includes a piano-duet version of Visions de l'Amen in the last disc, played by Messiaen himself and his wife Yvonne Loriod. The only significant weakness of this set, in my opinion, is Roger Muraro's 7 discs of solo piano music. For that, you will want to get the performances from two Messiaen super-experts: Prof. Peter Hill(*) and Yvonne Loriod. However, let me emphasize that even this "major weakness" is really not that weak after all! Muraro might not be the most idiomatic Messiaen performer, but he has very colorful and supple touch and agile technique. And yes technique! Some pieces demand virtuosic technique: If you can't play 16th notes at 200 (per quarter note) in cadenzas and florid passages, don't even try Messiaen except in your own sound-proof practice room!



Yvonne Loriod's outstanding performance can be found in Warner's Messiaen Edition alluded above. The strength of this set includes: (1) Yvonne Loriod's performance of solo piano works, (2) Pierre Boulez's conducting of a few orchestral works and (3) A recorded radio interview with the composer in the last CD. The major drawback of the set, though, is that it does not include Messiaen's only opera Saint François d'Assise, which is included in DG's Complete Edition in a superb performance conducted by Kent Nagano, with an outstanding (dream) cast led by José van Dam's Saint François.



One significant benefit from the completeness itself is that "the whole is more than a collection of individuals". After going through the complete oeuvres, the developmental stages become much clearer. When one traces the composer's work chronologically, their connections show up naturally. Some examples: from Trois Melodies (1930) one senses immediately strong influence of Debussy's Pelleas; some traces of Fauré can be discerned from his early chamber music;(**) in many early songs, one hears themes of later instrumental works, like Vocalise-Etude (1935) in Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (1940-1). There are many other examples. However, the joy of discovery is not unlike what I experienced a few years back, while going through Hanssler's Complete Bach edition.



My recommendation is: if you can afford it, go for DG's complete edition while it's still available. It's not likely we will have another "complete edition" of any composer of such high quality any time soon. On the other hand, if you enjoy Messiaen's piano music as much as I do, you would really want to supplement this set with either Peter Hill's or Yvonne Loriod's recordings. This recommendation is especially urgent as it is a limited edition and most major European vendors, including DG's own website(!), no longer carry it.(***)



Most highly recommended for anyone who enjoys Messiaen's music.



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(*) Prof. Peter Hill, at Sheffield, is a Messiaen scholar/pianist and have prepared the recording with the composer in Paris. Regis used to carry Peter Hill's 7-disc box set but it seems to have gone out-of-print. Fortunately, Brilliant Classics has reissued the Hill discs. See comments below.



(**) Curiously, I have not read any scholarly assertion about this connection with Fauré. So the readers are advised to take this as a conjecture.



(***) If you are one of those budget-conscious music lovers, like myself, you'd really want to shop around for the best price. For example, check out amazon's EU sites. Other reviewers have useful suggestions as well.



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Addendum: After the first version was posted, I discovered Steve Benner's review, where he complains about Latry's organ performances. I found them admirable. However, if you are really into Messiaen's organ works, you don't want to miss Messiaen's own performance in Messiaen par lui-même and CDs by Jennifer Bate. -- And by the way, Steve's review is recommended."

The ONLY complete set!

Ryan Kouroukis | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 12/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"*****This 32 CD-Box Set is a "Limited Edition". There have only been a certain number produced by DG! My local classical retailer/distributor can't get any more of them based on an email from DG about it! This means that you must get this while it's available or you might have to wait until people start selling it used or on ebay!*****



---> This is the ONLY set of the complete works of Oliver Messaien on the market. It's always a tricky thing comparing Messiaen recordings, they are all excellent and were all mostly authorized by the composer at the various recording sessions made before his death. Other sets are just as good but are all partial (the new Decca and EMI sets and the Erato/Warner set).



As part of Messaien's Centerary (b.1908) this set is quite special, since not only does it contain his entire ourvre from every repetoire and genre, but each recording has achieved classic status and are mostly reference recordings of the major works: Eclair Sur de La, Turangalila, St. Francis, etc. and the complete Piano and Organ works by his own pupils Roger Muraro and Oliver Latry etc. All the conductors have also studied with him (Pierre Boulez, Myn Whun Chung, and Kent Nagano), not to mention a whole other slew of artists!



Rare, unheard and unperfomed works were recorded especially for this edition to complete it, and even has a recording of Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod (his wife) playing piano duet!



The box is as elegant as you see it...with many rare pictures and writeups, notes that were written by Messiaen on each work and full text translations.



This set stands as an Grand achievement, as Messaien himself! A wonderful oppertunity of new colourful music to explore and cherish! A lifetime investment worth every penny!



***Just remember, who knows how long it will last!!***"

Complete but not entirely definitive

Steve Benner | Lancaster, UK | 01/02/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On the face of it, this massive boxed set containing Olivier Messiaen's entire oeuvre (including some works which were never published) might appear to be pretty much the definitive edition. Many of the artists featured were closely associated with the composer in one way or another at some time during their careers. No-one, of course, was more closely associated with him than Yvonne Loriod and it is good to see that she features in many of these recordings, and especially welcome to see included here the two-piano version of "Visions de l'Amen" played by Loriod and the composer himself, recorded in June 1962. It is a pity, though, that so little of the music for solo piano is not represented here by Loriod's recordings, but is mostly supplied by Roger Muraro, whose playing, whilst competent, never really feels to engage with the true essence of the material. His rendition of "Catalogue d'Oiseaux", for example, is not a patch on Peter Hill's exquisite (but hard to find) edition.



The organ music suffers a similar lack-lustre treatment at the hands of Olivier Latry, although the fault here seems to be more the standard of the recording than of the performance, despite being recorded at Notre-Dame de Paris. Not that his playing is bad by any means, but both Jennifer Bate and Gillian Weir manage to pack far more feeling into their performances (and are generally better recorded).



Fortunately all of the works more than make up for any short-comings in the solo piano and organ pieces, however, with vibrant and powerful performances aplenty. The orchestral and concertante works are big, bright and beefy, just as they should be; the chamber and vocal works are impassioned and vibrant also, for all that some of the recordings are quite old (although anyone who dislikes their chamber ensembles close-miked might prefer to back the volume off a little in some places.) Jeanne Loriod's rendition of "Fête des belles eaux (Celebration of the Beautiful Waters)" for ondes martenot sextet is a particular delight.



The vocal works are all well performed also, with the real jewel in the crown, of course, being the complete performance of the huge opera 4-hour "Saint François d'Assise", played by the Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Kent Nagano and featuring Dawn Upshaw, José van Dam and Jeanne Loriod, recorded live at Salzburg, August 1998.



DG/Decca have done a nice job with the packaging, with each CD in a simple paper slip-sleeve, all housed in a single box, so that the whole 32-CD set takes up less than 3 inches of shelf space, including the comprehensive 378 page booklet of programme notes, photographs, and essays detailing Messiaen's musical output.



In addition to the caveat regarding the quality of the solo piano and organ works, the only other warning I'd give the prospective purchaser of this set is to point out that despite several works being specially recorded for this edition, a small number of works are represented by recordings made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These do have noticeable tape hiss, although not to any distracting degree and the performances are such that it is easily ignored.



All in all, a very good release which should probably be classed as an essential purchase for anyone seriously interested in the music of Olivier Messiaen. It's a limited edition, so grab one while you can."