Essential Messiaen discs.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The image on the back of the (reissued) CD, just containing Turangalila, looks to me like it claims to be DIGITAL (but the resolution on my screen is not great).

The "credits" (just under the "Total Playing Time 76:59") states "ADD" - Analogue recording with subsequent Digital doodling.

AFAIK, the first commercial Digital recording on sale to the general public was the 1979 New Year Concert.

[Pulcinella]

The "credits" (just under the "Total Playing Time 76:59") states "ADD" - Analogue recording with subsequent Digital doodling.

Indeed! Didn't spot that.
I was looking at the rightmost of the three images/logos (to the right of the BMG one), which looked like it might say DIGITAL.

[Pulcinella]

Ozawa's second recording, according to this list.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/712500-Seiji-Ozawa

[Pulcinella]

Like many others on this thread, I grew up with the Ozawa LP recording of Turangalila. (As an aside, it must have been one of his first recordings. I have a distant memory of seeing him in Liverpool conduct a Beethoven 9 with Rita Hunter as one of the soloists right after he won a competition; any better memory than mine around?)

Memory must be playing tricks.
The Rita Hunter concert must have been in 1972, as she signed my copy of the CFP LP Highlights from Gotterdammerung that had just been released (she told me she didn't even have a copy to give her mum in Wallasey) for me. Ozawa was clearly up and running by then.

[visualnickmos]

I know almost nothing of Messiaen's work, but I do have a CD of the Turangalila which I find enthralling.
It is with the Royal Concertgebouw, conducted by Ricardo Chailly (Decca)

[Pulcinella]

I know almost nothing of Messiaen's work, but I do have a CD of the Turangalila which I find enthralling.
It is with the Royal Concertgebouw, conducted by Ricardo Chailly (Decca)

Mentioned in post #12.
Got very good reviews (and perhaps awards?) when it first appeared, my (increasingly failing) memory tells me!

[umslopogaas]

Many thanks Bryn. I buy CDs through my local hifi shop. I'm sure they are more expensive than buying on line, but you get a chat and a nice cup of coffee. They've been seeing a lot of me recently, all the record companies seem to be issuing bumper box sets at very low prices per disc. My suspicion is that it is one last attempt to make a bit of profit from recordings (which have all been issued several times before) before the next generation takes over and is only interested in downloads.

[Bryn]

Mentioned in post #12.
Got very good reviews (and perhaps awards?) when it first appeared, my (increasingly failing) memory tells me!

There were also some rather negative reviews at the time of release which claimed it to be too fast. Those reviewers were clearly not familiar with the early performance history of the work. The Chailly was also later issued in a surround SACD version. I have it but do not like the surround mix. For surround, go for the DVDA version of the Previn, if you can find it.

Oh, and Peter Hill's recent Delphian CD is a must.

[Beresford]

... the big Erato set of 18 (IIRC) CDs is really a must, if it's still available. I also got to know Turangalîla courtesy of Ozawa but there are much better performances/recordings around now (Previn isn't among them IMO), including a brand new one with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu (don't take my word for it, read any review).

The Erato/Warner 18CD box I like a lot, mostly for Yvonne Loriod's playing, but not for Nagano's Turangalila. The box includes an interesting interview with Messiaen by Claude Samuel (in French, translation in the booklet), but does not include Eclairs sur L'Au-dela. Be careful with Loriod recordings - she made many versions of the piano music, and some are distinctly flatter than others, like the one with the nice picture of her and Messiaen on the front. Also included is the Boulez/Domaine Musical/Percussions de Strasbourg version of Et Expecto from 1966, whose last movement (on LP) used to frighten me when I was a student.
Can anyone tell me why no other modern composer has taken up birdsong like Messiaen? Is it like Bach and counterpoint?

[MrGongGong]

Can anyone tell me why no other modern composer has taken up birdsong like Messiaen? Is it like Bach and counterpoint?

Plenty here

http://shop.gruenrekorder.de

and here

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/apr/11/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures

and Chris

http://www.chriswatson.net

and Alvin

http://www.alvin-lucier-film.com/bird.html

and Marcus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCCpnDtgxXk&spfreload=10

and so on

[teamsaint]

Birdsong in music would be a great thread on its own.

I cannot listen to certain parts of Mozart Symphony #40 without hearing birdsong.


Great responses to my thread BTW, thanks all for taking the trouble, and keep them coming. Its all as clear as mud though.....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Plenty here

http://shop.gruenrekorder.de

and here

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/apr/11/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures

and Chris

http://www.chriswatson.net

and Alvin

http://www.alvin-lucier-film.com/bird.html

and Marcus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCCpnDtgxXk&spfreload=10

and so on

... and Mike:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Finnissy-String-Quartets-Kreutzer-Quartet/dp/B0071AJ9PO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1429096397&sr=1-1&keywords=finnissy%2C+string+quartet

and Jonny:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jonathan-Harvey-Bird-Concerto-Pianosong/dp/B005MIYI76/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1429096469&sr=1-1&keywords=jonathan+harvey%2C+bird

[Richard Barrett]

... although in those cases the birdsong actually sounds like (or actually is) birdsong, as opposed to Messiaen's heavily adapted versions of it which in many cases you'd be hard put to recognise. Which reminds me that anyone wishing to know more about Messiaen and birdsong, and indeed about Messiaen and everything else, ought to have a copy of Hill & Simeone's excellent biography of the composer, the most absorbing book on a composer I've read for a long time. (Well known to some forum members of course. )

[Bryn]

... although in those cases the birdsong actually sounds like (or actually is) birdsong, as opposed to Messiaen's heavily adapted versions of it which in many cases you'd be hard put to recognise. Which reminds me that anyone wishing to know more about Messiaen and birdsong, and indeed about Messiaen and everything else, ought to have a copy of Hill & Simeone's excellent biography of the composer, the most absorbing book on a composer I've read for a long time. (Well known to some forum members of course. )

Unless, of course, it was semi-ghost-written?

[gurnemanz]

The very worthwhile 17CD Brilliant Classics Edition Vol 1 (Peter Hill on Piano + Organ and Songs), which I got a while ago for about £20, seems to be still available even more cheaply on Amazon Marketplace.