Commissioned to celebrate the bicentenary of America’s
Declaration of Independence Messiaen’s
Des canyons aux étoiles
is one of a trio of late, great works that includes his opera
Saint-François
d'Assise (1975) and the orchestral
Éclairs sur l'au-delà
… (1988-1992). In between he composed
Livre du Saint
Sacrement for organ (1984), the UK premiere of which I was privileged
to attend. Jennifer Bate, well known for her advocacy of Messiaen’s
organ works, was as splendid as ever; indeed, that one event deepened
– nay, cemented – my affection and respect for this composer’s
unique oeuvre.
Thirty years on and we’re back at the refurbished Festival Hall
with
Des canyons aux étoiles. I was a little surprised to see
Christoph Eschenbach at the helm, for he’s not a conductor I associate
with this repertoire. Myung-Whun Chung, though, is steeped in this music,
all of which is available in a 32-CD box from DG (
review).
Up until now his recording of
Canyons – much praised
by
Hubert
Culot back in 2003 – has been my preferred version. While
Esa-Pekka Salonen on CBS/Sony (
review)
is blessed with a fine pianist, the Messiaen specialist Paul Crossley,
I just don’t find this conductor terribly engaging at the best
of times. As a result I've excluded him from my list of comparative
versions.
Those two recordings of
Canyons have dominated the catalogue
for a while now, although one shouldn’t overlook Sylvain Cambreling’s
2007 account for Hänssler, only available as part of an 8-CD traversal
of Messiaen’s complete orchestral music (CD93.225). He directs
the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, whose Mahler cycle
with Michael Gielen is one of the finest in the catalogue. Although
Cambreling’s account of the Berlioz
Requiem
was very disappointing his Messiaen is anything but.
The tripartite
Des canyons aux étoiles is actually scored for
fairly modest forces, among them the usual array of percussion instruments,
a wind machine and Messiaen’s own invention, the geophone. There
are four soloists – horn, piano, xylorimba and glockenspiel –
who distinguish themselves in all three of the recordings under consideration
here. Eschenbach’s is the only live account, but there's no applause
at the end and you’d never know there was an audience. The recording
is detailed and spacious, and the LPO play with a seamless concentration
that can’t fail to impress.
Chung’s fine-spun Bastille orchestra are even more communicative; they respond with a rapt intensity that’s utterly right in a slow but profoundly moving odyssey such as this. The DG recording is forensic without being bright or sterile and instrumental timbres are seldom less than ravishing. The LPO sound is very good too, and there’s a wonderful sense of atmosphere throughout. That said, it’s Chung and Cambreling who convey something deeper – call it spirituality if you must – which takes the music-making to another plane entirely.
That’s especially true of Cambreling and his German band, who
cast a potent spell that’s sustained from the first note to the
last. The Hänssler recording is remarkably sophisticated, which ensures
that the composer’s beloved birds are heard at their vibrant best;
also, instrumental decay – a vital part of this music –
is thrillingly caught. As if that weren't accolade enough Messiaen's
glorious epiphanies emerge with just the right sense of scale and emphasis.
Eschenbach doesn’t disappoint either, but for sheer
frisson
the two studio recordings are hard to beat. In all three versions the
more lurid music of
Bryce Canyon and the red-orange
rocks is sensitively handled, with none of the unsettling shriek
and fart one hears in
Turangalîla, for instance.
My affection for Chung’s recording is undiminished, even if there’s
a hint of stasis at times. Eschenbach certainly manages to keep the
narrative thread intact, but his calm, clear-eyed approach is not as
penetrating, as revelatory, as I'd like. Still, I’m delighted
to add his
Canyons to my hallowed stash, for it’s very
accomplished indeed. Throw in good liner-notes by Nigel Simeone and
you have a well-presented package. Incidentally, while the 24-bit files
are excellent those who opt for the 16-bit alternative won't be disappointed.
If I had to choose just one recording of this radiant masterwork it
would have to be Cambreling’s; normally I’d hesitate to
use the word definitive, but such are the wonders of his performance
that nothing else will do. The drawback is that it’s only available
as part of that 8-CD set. Actually that needn’t be a problem,
for it’s the perfect excuse to buy the well-priced box and revel
in all its riches.
Eschenbach’s keen and sympathetic
Canyons is well worth
hearing; Cambreling’s is the one to take to your desert island,
though.
Dan Morgan
twitter.com/mahlerei
Previous review:
Michael
Cookson