Olivier Messiaen, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Yvonne Loriod (piano), Marie-Claire Alain (organ), Maria Oràn (soprano), Huguette Fernandez (violin), Guy Deplus (clarinet), Jacques Nielz (cello), Marie-Madeleine Petit (piano), pianos, Rachel Yakar (soprano), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Dominique…
Warner Classics · 2564621622 · 19 hours 42 minutes
Nearly twenty hours of Messiaen is the kind of thing you could lose a whole rainy weekend to, and honestly, you’d come out the other side a changed person. What makes this set really special is hearing the composer himself at the organ for the Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte-Trinité — there’s a directness there that no one else quite captures. With Loriod, the Labèques, and Aimard all pitching in, it’s about as authoritative a Messiaen collection as you’ll find, and well worth the deep dive.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 7th July 2008
- BBC Music Magazine — October 2005 — Special Review
- Building a Library — March 2017 — First Choice
“Messiaen’s own performance of the large organ cycle Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte-Trinité is included amongst the goodies on offer here. …it is thoroughly compulsive listening, and…”
— BBC Music Magazine, October 2005
Gillian Weir (Organ of Århus Cathedral, Denmark)
Priory · PRCD921 · 74 minutes
Gillian Weir has a way of making Messiaen’s vast, kaleidoscopic soundworld feel both otherworldly and completely lucid, and that’s no small feat when you’re dealing with music this dense and dazzling. The Århus Cathedral organ gives her colors to burn, and the remastering lets every shimmering chord and thunderous climax breathe without ever turning to mush. If you’ve found Messiaen’s organ writing a little overwhelming in the past, this is the recording that finally makes it all click.
Awards:
- Building a Library — May 2008 — First Choice
“Remastered, these outstanding recordings made in Århus Cathedral are a model of how to combine atmosphere and clarity in this music, and no other player seems quite to equal Weir’s remarkable…”
— Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
Paul Jacobs (organ at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, New York City)
Naxos · 8572436-37 · 99 minutes
Messiaen’s organ writing can feel like staring into a cathedral ceiling that keeps unfolding into more and more impossible colors, and Paul Jacobs has the stamina and the imagination to make every inch of it sing. The instrument at St Mary the Virgin is a glorious partner here, all shimmering registrations and earth-shaking power, and Jacobs paces the whole thing like someone who genuinely loves living inside this music. It’s a generous two discs that won a Grammy for good reason — well worth losing an afternoon to.
Awards:
- Grammy Awards — 53rd Awards (2010) — Best Classical Instrumental Solo Recording
“That Paul Jacobs has the requisite stamina is certainly not in doubt…The playing is magnificent, with a splendid sense of colour and power…The registration and speed of each passage are…”
— BBC Music Magazine, March 2011,3 out of 5 stars
Olivier Latry
Deutsche Grammophon · 4714802 · 7 hours 25 minutes
Latry plays Messiaen on the very organ at Notre-Dame where the composer’s spirit still seems to hover, and that connection bleeds into every note — you can practically feel the stone and the colored light. Yes, seven and a half hours is a commitment, but you don’t have to swallow it whole; dip in anywhere and you’ll find yourself swept up in sounds that range from celestial shimmer to earth-shaking thunder. It’s the kind of set you put on and simply lose yourself in.
Awards:
- Building a Library — May 2008 — Also Recommended
“the cathedral resounds with the meeting between the music, the instrument, and what [Latry] calls ‘its jewel-case of stone’….it’s actually possible simply to revel in the extraordinary sounds…”
— Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 20th November 2002
