CMF: STEVEN OSBORNE PLAYS MESSIAEN

Steven Osborne piano

 

Messiaen Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus

 

Messiaen’s Vingt Regards (or twenty contemplations) is a cult work, seldom performed and not to be missed! The pianist Steven Osborne, one of this work’s leading interpreters, captures perfectly the muscular, jagged and jazzy rhythms through to melodic moments of such simple beauty, time seems to stand still.

Messiaen often sought inspiration from religious subjects but, like JS Bach before him, his music appeals directly to the heart, whether secular or sacred. At two hours long, this is music as meditation. If you allow Messiaen’s music work its magic, the effect is uplifting and deeply moving.

 

‘His Messiaen [Vingt Regards] was simply astonishing… From intensely still … to blazing… it shone a brilliant

light on Osborne’s remarkable power, precision and poetry, ending in a euphoric [last movement] that seemed to strain at the capabilities of his instrument. Breathtaking stuff.’The Scotsman, Edinburgh International Festival 2019