Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Piano Classics

Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus; Petites Esquisse

$21.99

Details

Composer
Olivier Messiaen
Artist
Ciro Longobardi
Format
CD
Label
Piano Classics
Released
Mar 07, 2025
Catalog #
PCL10246
UPC
5029365102469

About

The third volume Ciro Longobardi's Messiaen, after the universal critical success of Volumes 1 & 2, focusing on the composer's best-loved piano cycle. With his Piano Classics collection of the Preludes, Quatre etudes de rythme, La fauvette des jardins and other shorter works, Ciro Longobardi announced himself as a Messiaen pianist of remarkable imagination and accomplishment. The critics duly took note: 'Longobardi showcases tremendous technical skill and an exceptional attentiveness. This album is a lush, intricate success-meaningful for Messiaen enthusiasts and enjoyable for those new to his work. I highly recommend it.' (Fanfare). The Catalogue d'oiseaux continued to attract superlatives: 'Hs performance makes you listen, through it's diverse use of dynamics and the expert use of silences. His playing is concise and bright and is best listened to with the accompanying booklet, in which his notes on the music expertly set the scene.' (MusicWeb International). Now the Italian pianist turns to the Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus in which Messiaen most successfully synthesised a Lisztian tradition of virtuosity and tone-painting on the piano with his own spiritual and musical preoccupations: Catholic devotion, birdsong and Indian rhythmic syntax among them. Messiaen had lately completed what became a 'Tristan' trilogy of works including the Turangalila Symphony when, in 1948, he was commissioned by French radio to write pieces to accompany a broadcast of Christmas-themed poetry. The commission quickly outgrew it's original purpose, and Messiaen instead created a thematically unified cycle of pieces taking in contemplations of monumental reverence, jazz-inflected improvisations, fabulously intricate toccatas and more. At the heart of Vingt Regards lies the ineffable tenderness of the kiss bestowed on the sleeping infant by his mother in the most famous piece of the cycle, Le baiser de l'enfant Jesus. As a generous pairing, Ciro Longobardi also includes the 1985 cycle of piano miniatures, Petites Esquisses d'Oiseaux, which distil his lifelong love of birdsong into six exquisite portraits. These, like the Vingt Regards, are dedicated to his wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod, who inspired his piano writing throughout his mature career, bringing a cyclical unity of it's own to the album.

Tracklist 26 tracks

  1. 1 No. 1. Regard du Père 06:56
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. Regard du Père
    Duration
    06:56
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  2. 2 No. 2. Regard de l'étoile 02:49
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Regard de l'étoile
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  3. 3 No. 3. L'échange 03:16
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. L'échange
    Duration
    03:16
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  4. 4 No. 4. Regard de la Vierge 05:32
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 4. Regard de la Vierge
    Duration
    05:32
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  5. 5 No. 5. Regard du Fils sur le Fils 05:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 5. Regard du Fils sur le Fils
    Duration
    05:36
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  6. 6 No. 6. Par Lui tout à été fait 11:14
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 6. Par Lui tout à été fait
    Duration
    11:14
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  7. 7 No. 7. Regard de la Croix 03:22
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 7. Regard de la Croix
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  8. 8 No. 8. Regard des hauteurs 02:30
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 8. Regard des hauteurs
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  9. 9 No. 9. Regard du temps 03:18
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 9. Regard du temps
    Duration
    03:18
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  10. 10 No. 10. Regard de l'esprit de joie 08:44
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 10. Regard de l'esprit de joie
    Duration
    08:44
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  11. 11 No. 11. Première Communion de la Vierge 06:38
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 11. Première Communion de la Vierge
    Duration
    06:38
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  12. 12 No. 12. La Parole Toute-Puissante 02:45
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 12. La Parole Toute-Puissante
    Duration
    02:45
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  13. 13 No. 13. Noël 04:24
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 13. Noël
    Duration
    04:24
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  14. 14 No. 14. Regard des anges 05:00
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 14. Regard des anges
    Duration
    05:00
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  15. 15 No. 15. Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jésus 09:27
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 15. Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jésus
    Duration
    09:27
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  16. 16 No. 16. Regard des prophètes, des bergers et des mages 03:11
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 16. Regard des prophètes, des bergers et des mages
    Duration
    03:11
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  17. 17 No. 17. Regard du silence 05:15
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 17. Regard du silence
    Duration
    05:15
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  18. 18 No. 18. Regard de l'onction terrible 06:58
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 18. Regard de l'onction terrible
    Duration
    06:58
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  19. 19 No. 19. Je dors, mais mon coeur veille 09:16
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 19. Je dors, mais mon coeur veille
    Duration
    09:16
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  20. 20 No. 20. Regard de l'église d'Amour 13:37
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 20. Regard de l'église d'Amour
    Duration
    13:37
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  21. 21 No. 1. Le rouge-gorge (Robin) 02:20
    Track
    21
    Title
    No. 1. Le rouge-gorge (Robin)
    Duration
    02:20
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  22. 22 No. 2. Le merle-noir (Blackbird) 02:14
    Track
    22
    Title
    No. 2. Le merle-noir (Blackbird)
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  23. 23 No. 3. Le rouge-gorge (Robin) 02:28
    Track
    23
    Title
    No. 3. Le rouge-gorge (Robin)
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  24. 24 No. 4. La grive-musicienne (Song Thrush) 02:03
    Track
    24
    Title
    No. 4. La grive-musicienne (Song Thrush)
    Duration
    02:03
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  25. 25 No. 5. Le rouge-gorge (Robin) 02:43
    Track
    25
    Title
    No. 5. Le rouge-gorge (Robin)
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi
  26. 26 No. 6. L'alouette des champs (Sky Lark) 02:25
    Track
    26
    Title
    No. 6. L'alouette des champs (Sky Lark)
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Olivier Messiaen
    Performer
    Ciro Longobardi