Renowned pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s recording of Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux created a sensation when first released on PENTATONE in 2018, and now returns to the market in an attractively priced stereo reissue./p>

Aimard had intimate ties to the composer himself and his wife, Yvonne Loriod, for whom Messiaen wrote the Catalogue, a grand hymn to nature from a man who never ceased to marvel at the stupefying beauty of landscapes or the magic of birdsong. With his Catalogue, Messiaen tried – in his own words – “to render exactly the typical birdsong of a region, surrounded by its neighbours from the same habitat, as well as the form of song at different hours of the day and night,” suggesting an almost scientific approach to his subjects. The idea of ‘reproduction’ may have been central to Messiaen’s conception of the Catalogue d’Oiseaux, but in the finished work we hear a great composer at work, a master of innovative structures who finds an astonishing range of piano sonorities. Thanks to Aimard’s ability to evoke this colourful opus, his interpretation has turned into an absolute reference recording.>/p>

This first release within Aimard’s exclusive partnership with PENTATONE received many accolades, including a Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Since then, recordings of Beethoven (2021), Bartók (2023, with San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen), and Schubert (2024) have appeared on PENTATONE, as well as piano four hands albums with Tamara Stefanovich (Visions in 2022 and Nicolaou: Etudes & Frames in 2023).

Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou unite to record the vocal music of Olivier Messiaen, presenting his two major song cycles from the 1930's. Existing in both the sensual and sacred realms, the Poèmes pour Mi are inspired by the precious relationship of Messiaen and “Mi” - the nickname of his first wife; violinist and composer Claire Delbos. Chants de terre et de ciel also emerges from Messiaen's marriage to Delbos, written just after the birth of their son, Pascal. Both cycles oscillate between hypnotic meditation and ecstatic songs of love, supported by Messiaen's intense spiritual faith. Inspired by Messiaen's words, "It is a glistening music we seek...", Hannigan and Chamayou delve into the composer's complex language to reveal a natural and flowing music, whose roots extend from the earth upwards to a shimmering realm. As a final work on the album, Hannigan and Chamayou included a rarely performed "scena" of Messiaen: La Mort du nombre (1929) is a dialogue between two souls, in which they are joined by the Canadian tenor Charles Sy and the Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang.

Humans’ hope lies in art. The music of Schubert or Beethoven in particular, which gives us some idea of what worlds can still exist. What words can we use to make these works of art tangible? Not explainable, but tangible.

With this album, Turkish-born pianist Gülru Ensari and Romanian-born Herbert Schuch want to provide a space for experience, a place where they can carefully and tentatively approach the subject of eternity. The connection between Messiaen and Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms? Nothing more or less than a perceived truth. An involuntary connection of lines that are already there, but are drawn into infinity and meet somewhere, like the parallel rails of a dead-straight track that stretches right into infinity!

With this new recording “Eternity”, Gülru Ensari and Herbert Schuch entail the music lover to understand the act of listening as a dialogue with oneself (« let us experience it ourselves, recognising the infinitely varied ways in which people perceive things as something enriching instead of something striving for uniformity »).

Lars Vogt (1970-2022) early recordings collected here provide a document of an artist who always remained authentic, both to himself and to music. Lars Vogt never sought absolute truth, but truthfulness instead meant all the more to him. The man and the artist were always very close, never currying favour and never detached from the world. He was, instead, open and natural. "It's incredibly gratifying when you notice that you can perhaps light a little spark, a little flame for music in people, and when music helps you to find the path to your own soul."

Embark on a musical journey celebrating humanity's relentless pursuit of innovation and exploration. This recording, a tribute to pioneers like Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong, showcases new compositions and transcriptions, some crafted exclusively for the Navy Band. Immerse yourself in monumental pieces reimagined for winds, created by composers and arrangers with strong ties to the Navy Band. Join us in navigating uncharted waters and be the first to experience the thrilling intersection of tradition and innovation!

Violinist Alena Baeva joins Alpha Classics for several recordings, starting with an album of chamber music with pianist Vadym Kholodenko, her favourite partner. Together they offer an eclectic and unusual programme of Schubert's fearsome and magnificent Fantasy for violin and piano, composed a year before his death… This is followed by Stravinsky's joyous and boisterous miniatures in a collection entitled Divertimento, proposed as an abridgement of the ballet Le Baiser de la fee (The Fairy's Kiss). Olivier Messiaen composed a Fantaisie for his first wife, the violinist Claire Delbos, but the work was not published until 2007. Die Marchenbilder by Schumann complete the programme. Initially a pupil at the Moscow Conservatory, Alena Baeva later left Russia and was taught by Shlomo Mintz, Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky and Seiji Ozawa. At just 16, she won the Grand Prize in the Henryk Wieniawski International Competition, and many other prizes followed. Alena Baeva plays the Guarneri del Gesù "ex-William Kroll" of 1738. Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko was awarded the Van Cliburn Gold Medal in 2013.

Severin von Eckardstein: The idea is a journey from the earthly to the light, it is about the question of how life and death are connected. Now you can say that it is generally a function of music that it catapults you into a new level of consciousness. But I think the four works on this CD do that in a special way, they radiate a tremendous power. They reflect different personal worlds, were written at different times and spring from different genres and sound ideas, yet they all have a similar function.

On the Shoulders of Giants is the latest album from the renowned cellist Claudio Bohórquez, with works ranging from Schumann to Webern, from Schubert to Messiaen, this album is a journey on the shoulders of musical giants, both in the compositions and in the interpretations. Accompanied by the legendary conductor and pianist Christoph Eschenbach, Bohórquez delivers an extraordinary performance that is a treat for the ears and soul. With his exceptional skill and technique, he explores the depths of the cello's sound, bringing out the unique beauty and emotion of each piece. The album features Schumann's Adagio & Allegro op. 70, a powerful and expressive work that showcases Bohórquez's impeccable bowing and phrasing. The 2 Pieces for Cello and Piano by A. v. Webern are a masterclass in modernist composition, with Bohórquez and Eschenbach expertly navigating the intricate and complex melodies. Schubert's Sonata (Arpeggione) is a true gem of the cello repertoire. Finally, O. Messiaen's Louange à l‘Éternité de Jésus is a beautiful and moving work that showcases the cello's ability to convey deep spiritual emotions.

Giorgi Gigashvili is only twenty-two, but he is already hitting the headlines: now a pupil of Nelson Goerner, he is a protégé of Martha Argerich, who gave him the urge to play the piano alongside his first love, pop singing: at the age of thirteen, he was a contestant in The Voice in his homeland, Georgia, and won the prize! A few years later, Argerich discovered him at a piano competition, and he went on to win prizes at several more, including the Hortense Anda-Bührle Prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zurich in 2021. Another high-flying mentor, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili, asked him to play him the piano on her recording of the Franck Violin Sonata. His free and spectacular playing impresses, his creativity and personality astonish. Here he presents his first recital, revealing his palette of colours: Scarlatti, Beethoven, Scriabin and Messiaen. But never far away is his shadow, the singer of the electro band Tsduneba (‘temptation’ in Georgian) which he founded with his friends.

Visions offers Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s return to Pentatone, presenting a programme revolving around Messiaen’s intoxicating Visions de l‘amen for two pianos. This centrepiece is surrounded by Enescu’s Carillon nocturne, Knussen’s Prayer Bell Sketch and Clock IV from Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks. The works performed all share a fascination for the sound of bells, and Stefanovich and Aimard invite the listener on a mesmerizing acoustic journey. Tamara Stefanovich is captivating audiences worldwide with a broad repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary composers, and made her Pentatone debut with the critically-acclaimed album Influences (2019). Widely acclaimed as a key figure in the music of our time and as a uniquely significant interpreter of piano repertoire from every age, Pierre-Laurent Aimard enjoys an internationally celebrated career. His exclusive engagement to Pentatone has led to a complete recording of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux (2018) and a recording of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Eroica Variations (2021).

REVIEW:

Here’s a disc for pianophiles, those with a penchant for the mystical, and campanologists alike. As the song has it, “A bell’s not a bell ’til you ring it”, and here bells toll, peal, chime, carillon and knell throughout a cleverly programmed, acutely played recital by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich that dazzles with its poetry, intensity and clarity.

The disc’s title, Visions, alludes to the hallucinogenic effect of Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen in which bells sound with an intoxicating allure that speaks of a sense of otherness rooted in self-interrogating interiority. In its searching dialogue between two pianos surface religiosity serves as the portal to something altogether more transcendental and intimate.

Aimard’s familiarity with the work is unimpeachable, having played it, he says, “from the age of 15, turned the pages when Yvonne Loriod and Messiaen performed it, worked on it with him, and played it countless times”. More recently, it has been a part of his concert appearances with Stefanovich, and such accrued acquaintanceship pays enormous dividends here.

With due seriousness and gravity, Aimard assumes the imposing first piano role originally inhabited by Messiaen himself, Stefanovich voicing the narcotic zeal and fantasy of the second piano part, written for and first performed by Loriod. The result, an exercise in atomised contrasts, is something special.

Aimard carries the disc’s adroit finale, Harrison Birtwistle’s Clock IV (from Harrison’s Clocks) inspired by Dava Sobel’s book Longitude about the race to invent a marine chronometer. One of the composer’s “chiming pieces”, it discreetly echoes Messiaen even as its prodigious chord clusters and dramatic dynamic contrasts belong self-evidently to him alone. Aimard dispatches it with due declamatory virtuosity.

Nigel Simeone provides detailed, informative, and accessible notes, the recorded sound, in Stefaniensaal, Congress Graz, Austria as exemplary as you would expect of Pentatone.

-- Limelight

The piano is perhaps better suited than any other instrument to evoke the sound of bells – evening bells, bells of farewell and of joy, funereal bells, bells with spiritual overtones – and late-Romantic and twentieth-century French and Russian composers in particular have responded to the challenge of capturing those sonorities at the keyboard. This recital explores three centuries of pianistic tintinnabulation, and its ability to capture atmosphere and emotion. In her work, Irmela Roelcke combines concerts with teaching, practicing with reflecting and communicating music. She develops innovative concepts and dramaturgically profiled programs.