Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi, books 1 & 2 (complete)

“Always a strong Francophile, she makes an inspired exploration for the still-developing French tradition...it is easy to hear what inspired [Dutilleux]...Her lower register has become ever-richer toned, yet fluid, while higher up her silken soprano remains undiminished...Fleming is utterly ravishing in Ravel's Sheherazade, and her performance of Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi is sensational.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 *****

“[in the Ravel] she revels in the storytelling...her warm, voluptuous tones soaring ecstatically up into the most hedonistic climaxes, and carrying effortlessly over the orchestra even when in her softest lower-tessitura pianissimo....It’s the Dutilleux cycles that work best of all though, nodding as they do to all of Fleming’s vocal and expressive strengths...the vocal lines themselves playing to the warmth and elasticity of her upper register.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 16th February 2012

“Shéhérazade finds Fleming in seductive voice...Dutilleux provides an appealing series of soundworlds that suits the warm sumptuousness of her voice.” Classical Music, 7th April 2012 ****

“The outstanding item in this French collection is the first recording of Dutilleux's Le temps l'horloge. The short cycle of four songs with interlude was composed with Renee Fleming's voice specifically in mind and she revels in its rapturous lyricism...Fleming's soprano soars and dips, hinting at great truth always just out of reach.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2012

“Fleming is at her considerable best in [the Dutilleux], with her voice sounding rich and wonderfully flexible...the Dutilleux makes this an important release that will be an essential purchase for many French music enthusiasts” International Record Review, June 2012

“Given that Fleming celebrated 50 years in 2009...the state of her voice is cause for wonderment. The plush, peachy tone, her trademark, sounds unimpaired by the years...The American soprano justifiably revels in the sound of her own voice. If there have been more Gallic Shéhérazades on disc, none is more beautifully sung.” Sunday Times, 11th March 2012

“Fleming’s immaculate French diction is an asset, and Dutilleux’s luminous orchestral colours gleam under Seiji Ozawa’s direction. No effect is overplayed...Good to see that a major label is still willing to promote high-quality, offbeat repertoire – snap this disc up before it gets deleted.” The Arts Desk, 24th March 2012

“Renée Fleming's latest album reminds us that we pigeonhole her at our peril...Her artistry...can be formidable: she makes Shéhérazade sound faintly indecent; Poèmes pour Mi taxes her a bit, but is suitably ecstatic. But it's in the Dutilleux that we find her at her considerable best. It's worth acquiring just for that.” The Guardian, 8th March 2012 ****

“Fleming claims that singing in French suits her voice naturally, which is clear on this album...Her involvement with the intoxications of Ravel's Shéhérazade is obvious, the journey into this "forest filled with mystery" navigated with an enchantment little short of thrilling. Messiaen's Poèmes Pour Mi proves the perfect partner for Shéhéraza” The Independent, 9th March 2012 ****

“Take the phone off the hook and bolt the door: this first solo recording from young American soprano Susanna Phillips is a delight that should not be interrupted...Phillips has the gorgeous, melting tone needed for 'C'est l'extase' (Ariettes oubliees), but there is so much more to these interpretations than simply making a lovely sound...this is a true partnership with the impressive Myra Huang, who matches every ebb and flow with consummate skill.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 *****

“…represent the composer at his most intimately personal, conveying tenderness and ardent fire by turns, with often surreal imagery matched by music that shows scant regard for the niceties of a song recital. Ingrid Kappelle comes closest of modern singers to matching Messiaen's ideal, with a full-bodied, powerful voice, whilst her ability to convey the quietest hush is extraordinary. Her ace, though, is Håkon Austbø. He has recorded all of Messiaen's solo piano music, an experience reflected throughout in terms of touch, colour and tempo.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“…this handsome set from EMI is well worth considering. With works spanning his output, a range of genres and some wonderful performances…” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *****

“The 14-CD EMI set is one of those incredibly useful, disarmingly cheap, completist pulltogethers, this one boasting classic Messiaen moments like Previn's 1977 Turangalîla-Symphonie, Dorati's penetrating 1964 Chronochromie, Rattle's Eclairs sur l'Au-delà, Martha Argerich's and Alexandre Rabinovitch's Visions de l'Amen and Messiaen's own performances of his organ works.
For those wanting to look deeper into Messiaen's evolution and history, the Accord set of early recordings featuring Messiaen, Loriod and contemporary acolytes is essential. The set begins with Messiaen's and Loriod's 1962 recording of Visions de l'Amen (their second version; an original 1949 account is lost to hopeless sound) and it's a cunningly paced, keenly nuanced performance where articulation and timbre have been carefully considered. Loriod's 1956 account of the Vingt regards has a thrilling atmosphere of discovery, and the Catalogued'oiseaux she cut in '59 has bravura attack, although her later Erato set is more seasoned.
In the mid-1950s Pierre Boulez's Domain Musical society gave many Messiaen premieres, and Boulez's account of the insanely exacting Sept Haïkaï and a joyous performance of Oiseauxexotiques from Rudolf Albert, recorded at Domaine Musical events, enjoy a marvellous sense of time and place. Messiaen's own recording of the Quartet for the End of Time, featuring cellist Etienne Pasquier (with whom he was interred in Stalag VIII-A), is technically wobbly and shrill by modern standards, but has a rooted emotional authenticity that never tries too hard to make its point. The only low-point is Maurice Le Roux's Turangalîla: an apparently fine performance, but the recording is so lamely transferred it's impossible to tell either way.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The 14-CD EMI set is one of the those incredibly useful, disarmingly cheap, EMI completist pull-togethers, this one boasting classic Messiaen moments like Previn's 1977 Turangalîla-Symphonie, Dorati's penetrating 1964 Chronochromie, Rattle's Eclairs sur l'Au-delà, Martha Argerich's and Alexandre Rabinovitch's Visions de l'Amen and Messiaen's own performances of his organ works.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009