Messiaen: Éclairs sur l'au-delà... (Illuminations on the beyond)

Eclairs sur l’au-delà (Illuminations of the Hereafter) is Messiaen’s final work. It is a powerful testament to his personal philosophy and an eloquent summary of his colourful musical language. This piece also reveals Messiaen’s lifelong fascination with birdsong. This is orchestral music on a grand scale, creating an intricate mosaic of sublime sound. Another excellent release from Kairos.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of Olivier Messiaen, Hannsler Classics present this sumptuous 8-CD-Box set. It is the first time that Messiaen’s complex orchestral scores have been performed by a single orchestra and conductor. This results in a uniform interpretation, which is characterized by the superb performances of anorchestra renown for its sensitive and insightful interpretations of the newest scores and a conductor who has been devoted to the cause of Messiaen’s music.

Spanning six decades, Messiaen’s orchestral and vocal-orchestral music embody one of the monuments of 20th-century music. Under Pierre Boulez and Myung-Whun Chung, here is the only available complete recording, on 10 CDs, of all these masterpieces, including classics like the Turangalila Symphony and From the Canyon to the Stars, as well as rarities like The Forgotten Offerings and the brief Chorus of the Departed. With new liner notes by Messiaen expert Nigel Simeone and full sung texts and translations

Olivier Messiaen was born on 10th December 1908 in Avignon. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1919 to 1930 where his teachers included Paul Dukas and the great organist and improviser Marcel Dupré. He developed a very distinctive style in the music and with his deep Catholic faith and love of birds he created a highly original palette in sound which he employed in works for orchestra, small combination of or merely solo instruments or choir. EMI is celebrating his centenary with a collection of 14CDs. Messiaen himself appears as the organist in four CDs of his solo organ music, recorded in from the earliest work up to and including to his then latest work Livre d’Orgue. These four CDs have been newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.

His wife, Yvonne Loriod, plays the piano in the CD of the Quatuor pour la fin du Temps and his sister-in-law, Jeanne Loriod, plays the ondes-martenot in the Turangalila Symphony with Michel Beroff and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn. Although most works have been issued on CD before some are rare – e.g. 2 CDs of Melodies – and two are making their first appearance in this medium: Quatre etudes de rythme and Cantéyodjâya played by Beroff and Ogdon respectively. This is a fine set to introduce yourself to one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century.

It was meant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great French composer’s birth in December 2008. Released in September 2008, it was sold out before the anniversary date – all 4,000 boxes of the Messiaen Complete Edition.

There are benchmark performances by Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung, Olivier Latry and Roger Muraro, among many others. It’s the only set that can offer Messiaen’s magnum opus, the opera Saint François d’Assise. New recordings were made for the Edition; two works were recorded for the first time.

Limited Edition.

The only Messiaen box to offer the complete works. Highlights include:

Complete Orchestral Works: Boulez and Chung (including new [2008] recording of Trois petites liturgies and Couleurs de la Cité céleste).

Complete Piano Works: Roger Muraro.

Complete Organ Works: Olivier Latry.

Saint François: José van Dam / Dawn Upshaw / Kent Nagano.

Rarities include La Mort du Nombres, Choeur des déportés, Fêtes des belles eaux for Ondes Martenot, 4 Inédits pour piano et ondes Martenot, Chant dans le style de Mozart ….

Lavish 400-page CD booklet in French and English.