Although it is true for all music, the music of
Olivier Messiaen in particular, for all its complexity and originality, is at its very best when the performer and listener can connect to it emotionally in some way. His Visions de l'Amen, as performed by
Ursula Oppens and
Jerome Lowenthal here, is not as engaging as it could be for the listener. Both
Oppens and
Lowenthal are technically superb, separately and as an ensemble. Their unison passages are spot-on together, and overall their playing is precise and intent. It's just that what comes with that precision is a sense of calculation, that the music isn't quite as spontaneously inspiring to them -- and consequently, to the listener -- as
Messiaen usually is. A lot of this has to do with the recording's sound, which puts some distance between the listener and the pianos. It is clear and balanced between the two instruments and between the different registers of the pianos, but it isn't as immediately felt and, therefore, less engaging than it could be. All of the same is true of the performance of
Debussy's En blanc et noir that follows the
Messiaen. There are similar circumstances between the two works: both were written in Paris during wartime and are, after a fashion, reactions to that war.
Oppens and
Lowenthal play
Debussy more drily than most, which is probably closer to what
Debussy wanted, and in the second movement, it does highlight the senselessness of war. Yet, again, it's more deliberate than organic in expression as a whole. While this is a technically superior performance, pianistically speaking, there are other recordings of these two works that more easily connect with the listener.