Anca Elena in Personal Piano Project
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Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
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#3 – L’Échange
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Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus by Olivier Messiaen
“At the origins, this work had to accompany the poems of Maurice Toesca, La Nativité, a project for radio. Playing Vingt Regards sur l`Enfant – Jésus, I imagined the words which could follow the music, the voice of the actor reading the poems, the atmosphere of Christmas, people after the 2nd World War listening it to the radio like a ray of hope after so much craziness of destruction.
The violence is present also in this cycle, a terrible and extremely one. Jesus himself was a victim of it. In Regards we find the chaos before the creation, but also the tenderness of the motherhood, the image of a sweet sleep of Child Jesus, the wonderful freedom and joy of birds… And after all, in the end, Messiaen shows us the Christian window for peace and freedom, which is love.”
Anca Elena.
Anca Elena and Pianists Corner offer you a rendezvous every two weeks. Each rendezvous will contain one Regard. The first episode will be released first week of December.
#3 – L’Échange
“Descente en gerbe, montée en spirale; terrible commerce humano-divin, Dieu se fait homme pour nous rendre dieux …”
“Descending in a spray, rising in a spiral; the terrible trade between humans and God. God made man to make us gods …”
Olivier Messiaen.
“Here is a totally abstract work, a mixture of mathematics and theology, developed on scientific principles!
What is the good of music if it doesn’t speak to souls? Messiaen shows the opposite in this emotionless work, perfect in its frozen architecture. The equality and symmetry of the terms, the almost hallucinating predictability in a twelve-tone sound can be a shock to the music lover and can challenge his sensitivity. This is why this piece is one of the most daring of the cycle Vingt Regards sur l´Enfant-Jésus as an extreme aesthetic essay.”
Anca Elena.
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Personal Piano Project