Messiaen’s ‘Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus’

[paul secor]

Can anyone recommend a favorite recording of Messiaen’s ‘Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus’?  I've listened on YouTube and read reviews. So far, I'm inclined toward Peter Serkin's recording on RCA (o/p, but copies are available) and Haakon Austbö's recording on Naxos (available from Amazon, but only as a CDR, and I'm not sure whether copies from other parties are real CDs or CDRs also).

Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Edited January 9, 2019 by paul secor

[JSngry]

For the times when I want to consider multiple options, I do recommend Berkshire Record Outlet.

In this case: https://www.broinc.com/search.php?row=0&brocode=&stocknum=&submit=Find+Item&text=messiaen+vingt+regards&filter=all

[T.D.]

I bought the Austbo when it was a newish release. Found it good enough to not pursue alternatives, but I'm not a Messiaen enthusiast (20 Regards... and Quartet for the End of Time are my favorite pieces of his, fwiw).

Serkin's recording seems well-regarded and is probably very good. If I was to explore alternatives (not likely at present), I'd want to hear Loriod on Erato (for historical reasons) and Aimard on Teldec (I trust him in modern repertory). Steven Osborne on Hyperion got some excellent reviews, but I don't know enough about him to comment.

Edited January 9, 2019 by T.D.

[paul secor]

15 minutes ago, JSngry said:

For the times when I want to consider multiple options, I do recommend Berkshire Record Outlet.

In this case: https://www.broinc.com/search.php?row=0&brocode=&stocknum=&submit=Find+Item&text=messiaen+vingt+regards&filter=all

Thanks, Jim. For some reason, I hadn't thought of Berkshire.

 

7 minutes ago, T.D. said:

I bought the Austbo when it was a newish release. Found it good enough to not pursue alternatives, but I'm not a Messiaen enthusiast (20 Regards... and Quartet for the End of Time are my favorite pieces of his, fwiw).

Serkin's recording seems well-regarded and is probably very good. If I was to explore alternatives (not likely at present), I'd want to hear Loriod on Erato (for historical reasons) and Aimard on Teldec (I trust him in modern repertory). Steven Osborne on Hyperion got some excellent reviews, but I don't know enough about him to comment.

Thanks, T.D.

[T.D.]

If you go the Berkshire route, I recommend avoiding the Joanna MacGregor recording.   Back when I more actively explored modern classical music, I purchased several of her recordings (other composers, granted) and disliked them all...

[Chuck Nessa]

Austbo and Loriod are favorites but I also have a liking for the Jocy de Oliveira-Carvalho set on Vox lps.

Oops, I thought this was about the Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Disregard. 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Chuck Nessa

[Marzz]

Paul, I like the Serkin as well, though I seem to reach for the Aimard more often than the other versions I have. Worth mentioning that Aimard plays it noticeably faster than the Serkin (or most others I've heard) but it certainly works for me! I have the original CD release (Teldec) but a friend of mine recently bought his 6 CD set of "Warner Recordings" for only a few dollars more that includes the Vingt...

Edit: This is the set I meant, though it was cheaper in Australia - NOT often I can say that 

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Warner-20th-Century-Recordings/dp/B007KKKGQG/ref=sr_1_10?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547022183&sr=1-10&keywords=aimard+messiaen

Edited January 9, 2019 by Marzz

[soulpope]

[T.D.]

9 hours ago, Marzz said:

...

Edit: This is the set I meant, though it was cheaper in Australia - NOT often I can say that 

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Warner-20th-Century-Recordings/dp/B007KKKGQG/ref=sr_1_10?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547022183&sr=1-10&keywords=aimard+messiaen

That's a nice set! Only minor quibble is that it doesn't include the full contents of Aimard's awesome "Ligeti Edition Vol. 3, Works for Piano" disc.

Edited January 9, 2019 by T.D.

[Marzz]

On 1/9/2019 at 10:00 AM, T.D. said:

That's a nice set! Only minor quibble is that it doesn't include the full contents of Aimard's awesome "Ligeti Edition Vol. 3, Works for Piano" disc.

Oh yes, a wonderful disc, though that's the Sony set of course. Different label and all that. Only the first etude of Book 3 was written at the time of that release (1995/96). The last 3 recorded for Teldec in 2002 and included on the "African Rhythms" disc - he also re-recorded etudes 4, 8 & 12 for that disc's theme. So we need both the Sony and Teldec for Aimard's complete Ligeti etudes.

Btw, no doubt you already know this of course, I only mention it in case anyone's confused - one of the reviews on Amazon seems to suggest that the Teldec box contains a few of the Sony recordings but missing the rest. Now I'm confused! 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Marzz

[T.D.]

Thanks...No, I didn't know all that...I took a cursory look at the box on Amazon, put it on the wish list, but got discouraged by the Amazon comments.  The classical label mergers have gotten me all confused; I thought it was plausible that Sony Classical could be under the Warner umbrella by now!

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Loriod is my favorite, but I saw Steven Osborne perform it live, and was suitable moved. Some yahoo started clapping and hooting before even the last note died away. Osborne looked annoyed. The rest of the audience sat in silence for a good stretch before showing its appreciation.