Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s tribute to Olivier Messiaen coincides with the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth on 10 December 2008 - A highlight of the Messiaen year
Aimard has a strong personal connection to Messiaen: he studied piano with the composer’s wife Yvonne Loriod from the age of twelve and won the Messiaen Competition in 1973. He has been a champion of Messiaen’s music throughout his career, one of the few pianists to keep this repertoire alive in the concert hall and bring new admirers to it
For this anniversary album, Aimard has selected the early 8 Préludes (1928–29), the tense Quatre Études de rythme (1949–50) and excerpts from the cycle Catalogue d’oiseaux (1956–58), showcasing the broad spectrum of Messiaen’s piano works. Aimard is widely acknowledged as being the pre-eminent interpreter of contemporary music with links to many of the greatest masters of our age, among them Boulez, Carter and Ligeti
In 2008 Aimard performs Messiaen’s repertoire in concerts all over Europe, the US and Japan. His readings have indisputable authority because of his personal association with the composer. He is the curator of the Southbank Centre's Messaien season which runs through to the beginning of 2009, and during his time in London he will also give concerts at the Wigmore Hall. In 2009 he will also take over the artistic direction of the Aldeburgh Festival.
“I'll be very surprised if a more accomplished centenary tribute to Messiaen appears than this one. Pierre-Laurant Aimard knew the composer and studied with Yvonne Loriod… …Aimard achieves insight through clarity, a quality aided by superb sound-recording, with a rich range of meticulously graded dynamic levels, and just the right amount of space and resonance around the instrument.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008
“His dexterity is, of course, dazzling, but it is Aimard's range or timbre and colour that impresses most.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *****
Gramophone Magazine
