Messiaen

Barbara Hannigan, with her long experience of singing demanding twentieth century works, seems to me very well suited to these songs. She has clearly given a great deal of time to their preparation, as she writes in the booklet note. Bertrand Chamayou has a good track record as a Messiaen pianist, with a widely praised recording of Vingt Regards to his credit. He has a wonderfully sensitive touch and supports the voice well while clarifying the often intricate detail of the piano part.

Barbara Hannigan, with her long experience of singing demanding 20th Century Works, seems to me very well suited to these songs. She has clearly given a great deal of time to their preparation, as she writes in the booklet note. Bertrand Chamayou has a good track record as a Messiaen pianist. He has a wonderfully sensitive touch and supports the voice well while clarifying the often intricate detail of the piano part.

The short cantata La Mort du Nombre is a filler. This is for soprano, tenor, violin and piano and sets a poem by the composer which dramatizes a dialogue between two souls, one dying and despairing, the other full of hope. It sounds rather like Ravel. Here Hannigan and Chamayou are joined by the tenor Charles Sy and the violinist Vilde Frang and they offer a polished performance of this little work. The recording is fine.

These works have had several other recordings, though they are mostly now only available as downloads. However, I am happy to omit comparisons and can strongly recommend this. I hope Hannigan and Chamayou go on to record Messiaen’s later song cycle Harawi.