The London Conchord Ensemble performs a varied assortment of
Messiaen's chamber music, keyboard music, and songs that spans the composer's long career. It's mixed bag musically, and probably more appropriate for a recital by small ensemble demonstrating the range of the composer's work than as an album, which generally is more unified in terms of instrumentation or style or theme. Each of the pieces (or excerpted movements from larger works like the two-hour piano solo Vingt regards sur l'Enfant- Jésus) is attractive, though, and the brevity of each piece could make the album a good introduction to the composer for listeners not ready to tackle his more massive and formidable works.
Gweneth-Ann Jeffers' doesn't quite have a voice the size of the "grande soprano dramatique" the composer calls for, but she demonstrates that a singer with a normal-sized voice can persuasively pull off the treacherously demanding cycle. She is most effective in the low-lying sections like the openings to "Épouvante" and "Les deux guerriers" and in the upper register where she cuts loose with plenty of power and volume. She's less convincing in the quiet, ethereal moments that call for more tonal purity and the ability to float effortlessly in the stratosphere. In spite of that occasional weakness, it's a compelling, committed performance of one of
Messiaen's most technically daunting but most immediately appealing works. "Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jésus," from Vingt regards, is another exceptionally lovely work, serene and ecstatically celestial, that would make an excellent jumping-in point for
Messiaen novices, and
Stephen de Pledge plays it (and all the piano parts) with sensitivity and plenty of color. Le merle noir is a 20th century classic for flute and piano; it's a spikier work, but still recognizable as a natural extension of post-Impressionism. Thème et variations, for violin and piano, is one of
Messiaen's earliest works, but his trademark use of unusual modes and rhythmic patterns make it unmistakably his own.
De Pledge and violinist
Matthew Trusler, playing with a very light, almost tremulous tone that's clearly an intentional, even bold, aesthetic decision, give it an idiosyncratic but ultimately effective reading that highlights its great delicacy. The sound of Champs Hill's CD is clean and adequate, but not especially deep or spacious, and the piano sometimes has a tinny, ringing quality in its upper register.