Messiaen - Quatuor pour la fin du Temps | Sony 88985363102

Messiaen - Quatuor pour la fin du Temps

Label: Sony

Cat No: 88985363102

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 3rd November 2017

Contents

Artists

Martin Frost (clarinet)
Lucas Debargue (piano)
Janine Jansen (violin)
Torleif Thedeen (cello)

Works

Messiaen, Olivier

Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time)

Artists

Martin Frost (clarinet)
Lucas Debargue (piano)
Janine Jansen (violin)
Torleif Thedeen (cello)

About

Presenting Messiaen's most original and poignant chamber work, recorded by this sensational quartet: Martin Fröst, Lucas Debargue, Janine Jansen and Torleif Thedéen. One of the most original chamber works: Olivier Messiaen is one of the great composers of the 20th century and the Quartet for the End of Time is probably his greatest chamber work. The album pushes all kinds of boundaries, first of all through its genesis in a concentration camp, through the unusual combination of the instruments, and then through the performance by Martin Fröst himself who is known for pushing musical and technical boundaries: "There is something approaching the supernatural about his command of his instrument,” said The New York Times. A very personal recording: Martin Fröst and Janine Jansen first met 16 years ago and the first piece they ever played together was the Quartet for the End of Time. Torleif Thedéen was also part of that group. This piece left them with a deep sense of connection, and now they record it together for the first time.

Janine Jansen, internationally recognized as one of the great violinists and known as a “crowd pleaser”, regularly receives standing ovations from enthusiastic audiences. Lucas Debargue, who became famous overnight after causing a sensation at the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, enjoys widespread popularity.

The work was composed and first performed at a Nazi concentration camp in 1941 while Messiaen was a prisoner. It is scored for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, reflecting the players Messiaen had available to him at this time. Messiaen, a devout Catholic, based the work on the language and imagery of the apocalypse (Book of Revelation) where time is forever abolished.

Reviews

The playing is flawless but still deep-felt, unflinching in the white heat of the Dance of Fury, intently hushed in the Abyss of the Birds, fervent in both tender Louanges.  Kate Molleson
The Guardian 26 October 2017

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