Composer: Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen
Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 5577882
Release: 2004
Size: 255 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Eclairs sur l’au-delà…
01. Apparition du Christ glorieux
02. la constellation du Sagittaire
03. l’Oiseau-Lyre et la Ville-Fiancée
04. les élus marqués du sceau
05. Demeurer dans l’Amour
06. les sept Anges aux sept trompettes
07. et Dieu essuiera toute larme de leurs yeax
08. les étoiles et la Gloire
09. plusiers oiseaux des arbres de Vie
10. le Chemin de l’Invisible
11. le Christ, lumière du Paradis
If any conductor can be trusted to bring out the shimmering colors, textural depths, and profound majesty of Olivier Messiaen’s late masterpiece Éclairs sur l’au-delà…, then confidence in Sir Simon Rattle certainly is well-placed. Approaching this massive work with acute precision in its smallest parts, yet ever mindful of the music’s cosmic dimensions, Rattle leads the expanded Berlin Philharmonic in an exacting yet sweeping performance. The consistency of the large ensemble is remarkable, particularly in the processional of wind choirs in “Apparition du Christ glorieux,” in the elaborate counterpoint of birdsongs in “Plusieurs Oiseaux des arbres de Vie,” and in the sublime string textures of “Demeurer dans l’amour” and “Le Christ, lumière du Paradis.” Yet there are many delicate details that demonstrate Rattle’s meticulousness and sensitivity to color, especially in the ringing changes of “La constellation du Sagittaire” and the quicksilver exchanges of “L’Oiseaux-lyre et la Ville-fiancée.” Only the recorded sound is less than ideal, perhaps too spacious and resonant for Messiaen’s most complicated passages to be heard clearly. Even so, this challenging work has had few great performances, and Rattle’s excellent rendition is only surpassed by Myung-Whun Chung’s brilliant reading with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Bastille on Deutsche Grammophon, which also offers superior sound.