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Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus - four recordings · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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  This is Jed Dissler, and welcome to The Piano
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  Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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  I'm sorry I did not have this episode ready yesterday
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  on Monday, but today is Tuesday, so I'm making
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  up for lost time. I had a lot of things to do
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  yesterday, but I wanted to have an episode for
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  you about Messiaen's monumental cycle of piano
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  pieces, 20 looks at the baby Jesus. Before I
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  talk about the piece, I... want to invite you
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  to subscribe to the Piano Maven through my sub
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  stack page. And I've provided a link to do so
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  in our episode description. If you take out a
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  paid subscription, you get a free download at
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  the start of each month. So that's a nice little
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  perk. And your paid subscription also helps keep
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  this podcast alive and afloat throughout the
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  year. Several subscribers have been asking me
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  for, oh, almost a year, I guess, to do a talk
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  about the recordings and the catalog of Messianes,
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  Verregas, L 'Enfant Jésus. Now, to be honest,
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  I have not heard each and every recording of
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  this cycle. I know pretty much what the recordings
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  are. are. I'm talking about versions that are
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  both in print and out of print, but I thought
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  that it might be a good idea before I get into
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  doing a large -scale building a library episode
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  that deals with the entire discography of that
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  regard. I thought maybe I could just tide you
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  over by talking about four recorded versions
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  for the time being. I'm just going to focus on
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  these to get the discographical juices flowing.
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  These are not recent versions, but I think they
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  will give you an idea of the interpretive scope
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  that one can find in this work on disc. Some
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  of the more recent versions I've heard, but I'm
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  going to need a little more time to really get
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  to know them and live with them, such as the
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  recent recordings of Martin Helmschen and Bertrand
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  Chamayu. I have those in my collection, but I've
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  only been dipping into them, and I really do
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  have to study them. I did not review them for
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  whatever reason. But I'm going to talk about
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  four recordings of Van Rigard now, and I think
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  this is probably a good place for you to get
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  started. One of them features the French pianist
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  Michel Berof, and he recorded the Van Rigard.
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  when he was all of 19 years old. In fact, when
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  he was 11 years old, he played some of these
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  pieces by memory for the composer and his wife,
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  Yvonne L 'Orealde. And, you know, Yvonne L 'Orealde
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  was the one who premiered that regard, and she
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  made the first recording of the piece. Michel
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  Derroff's recording, I think, is a crown jewel
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  in his large discography. He brings wonderful,
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  pointillistic sparkle to the rapid high register
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  passages that are inspired by Birdsong. And no
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  matter how thick the piano scoring is, there's
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  always fantastic textural transparency. His tempos
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  tend to be on the quick side, but nothing sounds
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  ever hectic. or rushed or even slapdash in the
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  matter of, let's say, John Ogden's recording
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  that came out around the same time in the late
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  60s. It's true that the music does cry out for
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  expansiveness and breadth and gravitas and a
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  little more resonance than Barof sometimes allows,
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  but you really cannot discount such stunning,
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  stunning pianism. And I think this recording
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  has really stood the test of time. Now, in the
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  more reflective and intellectualized realm of
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  interpretation, of regard, there was Peter Serkin's
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  1973 recording for RCA Victor. I remember it
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  came out I think in 1975. I remember on LP, the
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  pressings were those... infamous Dynaflex pressings
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  which were like super super thin vinyl and the
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  surface noise was kind of fearsome you know you
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  put it on your turntable and when the needle
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  went down on the record it sounded like somebody
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  eating a matzah and you know for music like this
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  it was just not acceptable and I was very happy
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  when this recording finally turned up on CD however
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  To my ears the CD had been mastered at least
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  it seemed to have been mastered from the two
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  track mix down It was originally recorded on
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  eight tracks with microphones in different places
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  with the intention of the recording eventually
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  coming out in a quadraphonic manifestation on
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  LP. I don't know if a quad version ever appeared,
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  but if the eight -track tapes exist, it really
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  should be remastered in a surround sound version
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  because there is a little bit of compression,
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  it seems, in this two -track mix -down. But still,
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  the sound is quite acceptable. But more importantly,
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  Peter Serkin's interpretation, I think, displays
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  extraordinary concentration and a real affinity,
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  both musical and spiritual, I think, for the
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  composer's style. Serkin's very flexible kind
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  of virtuosity results in more personalized and
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  deeper interpretations than one often hears.
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  And I'll give you a few examples. Piece number
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  six, which is called Pas Lui Tu As Ete Fe. This
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  is a tour de force of complex independently moving
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  textural components in both hands. And it requires
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  incredible flexibility and mobility to say nothing
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  of a wide array of articulations and dynamics.
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  And I remember when I reviewed the Peter Serkin
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  recording, for ClassicsToday .com, I compared
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  his interpretation of this movement to a couple
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  of the recent versions, the one of Pierre -Laurent
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  Aymard, and I talked about Aymard's unflinching
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  precision and control, and also Stephen Osborne's
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  recording on Hyperion, where I talked about his
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  very rock -steady rhythm, but the lighter and
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  more dance -like point of view that he brought
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  to the music. Sirkin is very different in this
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  movement because he voices the repeated notes
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  in long lines, and he also employs subtle tempo
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  modifications that heighten the music's inherent
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  drama without losing the overall pulse. And you
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  can say the same with piece number 16, which
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  features a lot of hubbub in the middle register.
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  It's a lot of traffic and a lot of notes going
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  all over the place. Yet in Peter Serkin's hand,
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  the music is so clear and unpressured, and it
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  almost sounds like Mozart in a way. And also
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  when Peter Serkin plays those soft block chords
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  in the fourth piece and in number 15, he shapes
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  the melodies on top of the chords and he really
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  and he really explores these chords for their
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  expressive potential without overdoing it. So
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  this is a very special recording and it's really
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  really worth hearing. Now another interpretation
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  that I think is equally personal, though totally
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  different in style and intent, comes from the
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  maverick pianist Anton Batygov. This was recorded
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  for Melodia in the late 1980s, and the sonics
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  are not the greatest. They are rather cavernous
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  and diffuse, but they seem to fit his interpretations
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  because Batakov generally takes much slower tempos
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  in relation to most other pianists, but he does
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  so with the utmost concentration and conviction.
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  I'm not going to go into great chapter and verse
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  about this recording because it's not that easy
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  to source. And I would not recommend it as a
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  first version. I would recommend that you hear
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  this after you get to know the piece through
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  like some of the more contemporary versions,
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  or the Peter Serkin that I talked about, or going
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  back to the Yvonne Laureaud recordings. Anyway,
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  about these slow tempos, my late and dear friend
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  Alan Evans, who knew Anton Batagov very well,
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  told me that When Baragoff met Messiaen, he asked
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  the composer about these slow tempos, and is
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  it okay to take tempos that are this slow? And
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  apparently Messiaen said they can never be slow
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  enough. Now, I don't know if that's true. or
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  not, but it certainly sounds plausible. The only
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  problem with this recording if you have the physical
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  discs is that not each and every of the 20 pieces
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  has its own track. They give you two or three
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  pieces per track, which is kind of a pain in
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  the butt. And because the tempos are slow, the
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  interpretation necessarily spills onto three
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  CDs. pair of cds onto two cds so this is a three
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  cd set but if you can find it it's really really
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  fascinating the fourth recording i want to talk
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  about this is one i have great affection for
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  the pianist jean rudolf kach that's k -a -r -s
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  made just a handful of studio recordings for
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  Decca in the 1970s, and then he ended his concert
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  career in 1981 to enter the priesthood. Among
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  the Decca recordings included just a few excerpts
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  from the Van Rigard, and these were such wonderful
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  performances that I thought Gee, it was a shame
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  that he did not get around to recording the complete
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  cycle, because it would have probably been a
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  reference version. However, a live performance
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  does exist with Jean -Rudolf K. It was recorded
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  in the small hall of the Concertgebouw in Anzberg.
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  It was recorded in the small hall of the Concertgebouw
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  in Amsterdam on April 30th, 1976, and it was
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  issued by Piano Classics fairly recently. The
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  sonics actually are quite good for an archival
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  recording, and they really give a good sense
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  of the sonority that Jean -Rudolf Kars had. all
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  of the warmth of his tone, the beauty of his
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  sound, his delicacy as well as his power. Now
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  there are occasional tape warbles that probably
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  were in the source tape, and over the course
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  of the evening the piano slipped out of tune.
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  on a few notes, which I guess is inevitable if
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  you're going to play two and a half hours of
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  Messian. But these problems hardly matter. in
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  light of the pianist's remarkable interpretation,
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  he sets the stage just beautifully by doling
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  out that first piece's luminous chords and bell
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  -like repeated notes with great patience and
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  long, long lines. And then in the second piece,
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  what striking contrasts he conjures up between
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  those fast runs and then the intricately voiced
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  high -register chords. And that spacious singing
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  quality that Ca brings to number four's opening
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  motif continues, it spills over into the central
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  section's rather harsh dissonances, so they don't
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  sound as harsh or percussive as they often do.
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  And then in piece number six I talked about with
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  Peter Serkin in detail. Now, you know, because
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  there's so much going on in the piano writing,
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  often pianists get an adrenaline rush in live
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  performance. And that does happen here, yet he
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  manages to temper his inspiration of the moment
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  by keeping the pulse rock steady and with varied
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  articulation and that's really quite impressive.
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  And I'm also thinking about how he plays the
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  final piece with those crazy arpeggiated figures.
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  running back and forth in opposite directions
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  in both hands. And this music here sounds so
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  joyous. Often it just gets banged out, you know,
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  for whatever reason. But here it has quite a
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  luminous and joyful quality. And for all of this
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  pianist's loving care, over details. He weaves
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  all 20 pieces into a cumulatively fulfilling
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  whole, and he does so by means of judicious pacing
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  and this sixth sense that he has for knowing
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  just when to press forward and when to linger
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  and also how to approach climaxes for maximum
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  dramatic and emotional impact. So he really has
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  the big picture in his mind, seemingly, from
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  the very first piece. And happily, Jean -Rudolf
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  Kars sanctioned this performance for release.
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  And he was especially happy because this release
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  marked the 40th anniversary of his baptism into
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  the Catholic Church, as well as the 25th anniversary
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  of Messiaen's death. and we're very lucky that
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  this performance was preserved and released.
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  So these four recordings of Vint -Régas, L 'Enfant
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  Jésus of Messiaen, with pianists Michel Berhoff,
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  Peter Serkin, Anton Batygov, and Jean -Rudolf
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  Carr, probably will give you an idea of the wide
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  interpretive scope that one can find in recorded
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  interpretations. These may not... necessarily
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  be my quote -unquote reference versions. But
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  if you start exploring them, I think you'll get
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  a good idea of the range of interpretive possibilities.
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  And I will be devoting either one large episode
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  or several smaller episodes to the fuller Van
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  Rygarde discography, and I will be talking about
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  the most recent releases. This is Jed Dissler
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  and you've been listening to The Piano Maven,
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  your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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  Thanks so much for tuning in and I'll be with
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  you next time.