Michael Seth Orland and Jacqueline Chew, piano
Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center
Olivier Messiaen: “Visions de l’Amen“ (1943)
The highly distinct piano parts of the Visions likely represent two personifications of Messiaen. After a warning, in the score, that the piece “was conceived and written for two pianos, demanding from these instruments their maximum force and diverse sonorities,” he distinguishes the first piano part as that containing “the rhythmic difficulties, the bunches of chords, everything concerned with velocity, charm, and quality of sound” and the second piano (composed with himself in mind) as entrusted with “the principal melody, the thematic elements, everything demanding emotion and power.” Their strongly characterized roles signify the reconciliation of the modernist intellectual—Yvonne Loriod [for whom the first piano part was written] was essentially the same age as Messiaen’s anti-Romantic students, and played brilliantly, but perhaps less fancifully than he—and the starry-eyed believer. Their layering at times suggests people from two different worlds who cooperate toward a shared aim.
—Michael Seth Orland
Free, no tickets necessary (a Shinkoskey Noon Concert)