Messiaen: Trois mélodies; Vocalise étude; Poèmes pour Mi; Chants de terre et de ciel; Harawi

COMPOSERS: Messiaen
LABELS: Brilliant
ALBUM TITLE: Messiaen - songs
WORKS: Trois mélodies; Vocalise étude; Poèmes pour Mi; Chants de terre et de ciel; Harawi
PERFORMER: Ingrid Kappelle (soprano)

Håkon Austbø (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 7448

Messiaen’s songs are probably the



least well-known area of his output,



yet, in many ways, they are the most



remarkable. All three great cycles,



Poèmes pour Mi, Chants de terre et



de ciel, and Harawi, were inspired



by his passionate love for his first



wife, Claire Delbos. They 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.



Marcelle Bunlet, a reputed



Wagnerian who gave the first



performances of each cycle, was



Messiaen’s favoured singer, and they



can be heard in a live, poorly recorded



account of Harawi (INA). 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.



In ‘Dans le noir’, the final song of



Harawi, she seems to disappear



into the realm of the stars. 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. Kappelle’s pronunciation



is occasionally quirky, and if not



always as incisive as Jane Manning’s



rightly lauded accounts (Regis), she



is more rounded and never mundane.



The three early songs and the usually



overlooked Vocalise etude are also



included to make this a thoroughly



desirable set. Christopher Dingle