Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise

On this CD:

1. Saint François d'Assise, opera in 3 acts, I/52 Scenes 3, 6, 7, and 8
Composed by Olivier Messiaen
Performed by Gilles Cachemaille, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Valerie Hartmann-Claverie, Jeanne Loriod, Kenneth Riegel, Robert Tear, Rachel Yakar
Conducted by Lothar Zagrosek

Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise, Music, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Olivier Messiaen, Lothar Zagrosek, Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, Gilles Cachemaille, Jeanne Loriod, Kenneth Riegel, Rachel Yakar, Robert Tear, Sebastian Vittucci, Valerie Hartmann-Claverie, Classical, French 20th/21st Century Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta
Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise / van Dam, Upshaw, Nagano
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Collosal Opera!
  • Ravishing Music
  • An Absolute Apotheosis
  • I'm trying and so is it
  • Mind-blowing
 Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise / van Dam, Upshaw, Nagano
Olivier Messiaen , Kent Nagano , Dawn Upshaw , José van Dam , Hallé Orchestra , Arnold Schoenberg Chor , Tom Krause , and John Aler
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000JSAO
Release Date: 1999-08-10

Tracks:

  1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act One, Scene One - The Cross: Un peu vif (J'ai peur, sur las route)
  2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (J'ai peur, sur la route)
  3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un Peu vif (J'ai peur, sur la route)
  4. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (S'il se met pleuvoir)
  5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un Peu vif - Saint Fran ois et Fr re L on remettent leur capuchon...
  6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act One, Scene Two - Lauds: Un peu lent
  7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu lent (Lou sois-tu, mon Seigneur, pour fr re Vent)
  8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu lent (Lou sois-tu, mon Seigneur, pour soeur Eau)
  9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu lent (Lou sois-tu, mon Seigneur, pour soeur notre m re la Terre)
  10. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu lent (Saint! Saint! Saint!)
  11. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu lent (O Toi! Toi qui as fait le temps!)
  12. Act One - The Kissing Of The Leper: Bien modere
  13. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act One, Scene 3 - The Kissing Of The Leper: Bien modere (Comment peut-on vivre une telle vie?)
  14. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Entre Saint Fran ois...)
  15. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (La p nitence! la p nitence! Enl ve-moi d'abord mes pustules)
  16. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (L preux, ton coeur t'accuse)
  17. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Pardonne-moi, P re, je r crimine toujours)
  18. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Miracle! Regarde, P re)
  19. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (P re, P re, j'ai tellement protest contre mes souffrances)

Tracks:

  1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act Two, Scene Four - The Journeying Angel: Un peu vif
  2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (J'ai peur, sur la route)
  3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Frere Mass e rentre dans la salle conventuelle...)
  4. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Qui peut frapper de la sorte?)
  5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Pourquoi me d range-t-on sans cesse?)
  6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Mais, il frappe encore!)
  7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Dieu te donne sa paix, bon Fr re!)
  8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Puis-je mon tour te poser une question?)
  9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (L'ange fait un petit geste de la main...)
  10. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act Two, Scene Five - The Angel-Musician: Bien modere
  11. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Toutes ces gloires dont parle l'Ap tre me ravissent)
  12. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Montre-moi combien est grande l'abondance de douceur)
  13. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Chant de la fauvette Gerygone...)
  14. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Que me veux-tu, fr re gheppio, faucon cr cerelle?)
  15. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Fran ois! Fran ois!)
  16. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Pardonne ma pri re, bel Ange de Dieu...)
  17. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (L'Ange se pr pare jouer de la viole...)
  18. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (J'ai peur, sur la route)
  19. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Mes petites brebis, merci de vos soins)

Tracks:

  1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act Two, Scene Six - The Sermon To The Birds: Un peu vif
  2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Pere, te souviens-tu du jeune homme de Sienne?)
  3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Un peu vif (Une louange! un point d'exclamation!)
  4. Saint Francois d'Assise: Petit concert d'oiseaux
  5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Petit concert d'oiseaux (Toute chose de beaut doit parvenir la libert)
  6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Petit concert d'oiseaux (Fr res oiseaux, en tous temps et lieux, louez votre Cr ateur)
  7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Petit concert d'oiseaux (Il vous aime, Celui qui vous accorde tant de bienfaits!)
  8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Grand concert d'oiseaux
  9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Grand concert d'oiseaux (Avec quel respect ils se sont tus, d s que tu as commenc pr cher!)

Tracks:

  1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act Three, Scene Seven - The Stigmata: Bien modere
  2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Seigneur J sus-Christ, accorde-moi deux gr ces)
  3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Les miens, je les ai aim s)
  4. Saint Francois d'Assise: The Stigmata (O faiblesse!... Ame tr s m prisable!...)
  5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Une lueur rouge et violette enflamme toute la sc ne...
  6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Bien modere (Si tu portes de bon coeur la croix)
  7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Act Three, Scene Eight - Death And The New Life: Tres modere
  8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (Adieu, cr ature de temps! Adieu, cr ature d'espace!)
  9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (Lou sois-tu, mon Seigneur, pour soeur Mort)
  10. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (J'appelle: Ha! et ma voix: Ha!)
  11. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (Fran ois! Fran ois! Rappelle-toi)
  12. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (Seigneur! Seigneur! Musique et Po sie m'ont conduit vers Toi)
  13. Saint Francois d'Assise: Tres modere (Uk est parti...comme un silence)
  14. Saint Francois d'Assise: Autre est l' clat de la lune, autre est l' clat du soleil, Alleluia!

Amazon.com's Best of 1999

Visionary French composer Olivier Messiaen spent nearly a decade writing St. Francis of Assisi, his four-hour opera inspired by the saint's life--including the famous legend of preaching to the birds, featuring the composer's mesmerizing musical aviary. This spectacular live recording from Salzburg reveals the work as a profoundly moving summation of a lifetime of discovery. --Thomas May

Amazon.com essential recording

The most ambitious work by 20th-century French master Olivier Messiaen, Saint Francis is also his most all-embracing. He spent nearly a decade creating the opera, which not only encapsulates the composer's abiding Catholic faith but draws on a lifetime of musical discovery and brings together the elements of Messiaen's far-ranging, rich vocabulary: birdsong and nature as a source for music, Eastern modes, complex rhythms derived from ancient Greek poetry and Hindu talas, plainsong, and percussive gamelan-like sonorities, to list a few of the most salient. Messiaen chose Francis for operatic representation as the saint "most like Christ" and wrote his own libretto, using the gentle poetry of the Fioretti. The opera avoids dramatic tension but instead--almost ritualistically--portrays the "infusion of grace" through a series of encounters, including an angel playing music that offers a taste of heaven's bliss (marvelously orchestrated for ondes Martenot) and the famous scene of St. Francis preaching to the birds, in which Messiaen stacks multiple bird calls on top of each other in an inspired passage of "organized chaos."

This live recording was made during 1998's Salzburg Festival, and Kent Nagano (who had studied the work directly with Messiaen during the opera's premiere in 1983) marshals the score's 119 players and enormous chorus into a spectacular series of symphonic frescoes. He is sensitive both to the resonant use of silence in the score's interstices and--most memorably--to Messiaen's rare achievement in creating music to express "perfect joy." And the cast he works with is unbeatable: José van Dam conveys immense compassion and presence in the almost unbelievably strenuous demands of the title role, while Dawn Upshaw sings the angel with a penetrating purity. This masterpiece demands time to get to know it--more than the four hours it takes to unfold--but once you know it, its rewards are immense. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Collosal Opera!.......2005-10-08

If you like Ligeti, Richard Strauss, Prokofiev, Dusapin, Penderecki than buy this Opera today!

5 out of 5 stars Ravishing Music.......2005-09-30

This work is the culmination of a lifetime of musical experimentation and fervent religous devotion. It contains a remarkable amount of absolutely ravishing music. The soloists, chorus, and orchestral work in this recording are absolutely first rate. As an effort to communicate the emotional experience of mysticism and religous fervor, this work will probably never be surpassed. It is certainly Wagnerian in the sense that a powerful musical language to used to convey meanings that cannot be expressed in simple verbal or logical terms. As a listening experience, Saint Francois is one of the pinnacles of 20th century music. Whether or not it works as well on stage is another question. I suspect its length and relatively static action will work against it. Because of the huge demands for the large orchestra and chorus, unusual instruments, and difficult solo parts, it certainly won't be performed often. This only makes this superb recording all the more important.

5 out of 5 stars An Absolute Apotheosis.......2005-08-13

This work is one of the most highest pinnacles of French composer Olivier Messiaen, a deserved apotheosis for his lifetime achivements. In this, his only Opera, he summarized his Aesthetic, Philosophical, Scientific (for he was an Ornithologist, too) and Theological quests. For the trained music lover it will be very difficult to leave the chair while listening to the subtle ways he used to address such an enormous endevour. Both, orchestra, performers and its conductor left in this superb recording a magnificent performance, a la par with the greatness of Messiaen's inspiration. But for the beguinner I would advise to approach the French master through other compositions, like his Orchestral Fugue in D Minor, of 1928, or the 1940-41, Quatuor pour la fin du temps, (Chamber: violin, clarinet, cello, piano), of tremendous historical and human significance, for it was composed, and first performed, in the entrails of a WWII German Prison Camp.

2 out of 5 stars I'm trying and so is it.......2005-06-28

I feel like the kid about to shout "The Emperor has no clothes!"

I've been giving this quite a chance. I generally love Messiaen but after a while one senses a sort of job-jar of stock gestures coupled with the endless birdsong quotes, especially in the later music. Using birdsong was not exactly an aesthetic decision for the composer, more an intellectual one (sorry, intellectual and not spiritual--HE decided that birdsong was God's natural melody whereas John Cage had a whole different, and I'd argue healthier, slant on "natural music"), and sometimes it shows.

Unfortunately, this opera is causing me to sort of rethink Messiaen. I'm spending too much time wanting to, and feeling that I should, be getting something out of this and yet I'm not. It's boring. The lack of movement through the interminable length doesn't read as spirituality to me, it comes across as hubris, or worse, a simulation of what the spiritual experience is supposed to be like. The Saint's greatness must be measured in audience becoming comatose. It has the same enervating quality as a Catholic mass in Latin. A long one.

Messiaen was an insanely self-confident individual (the great quote was "I wish I was as certain of anything as Messiaen is of everything") and people tend to be that way when they think God's sitting at their side. He was also exceptionally provincial and judgmental in his musical tastes and that's not a good sign. A great composer should have a keen awareness of the greatness of others, it's a reflection of their own musical intelligence, an indication of their awareness of their place in the great scheme of things. Elliott Carter, for example, is a great admirer of Mozart. So was Strauss (who once endearingly called himself a first-class second-rate composer--a self-deprecation that would never have flitted through Messiaen's head). So was Beethoven. Even Wagner, egoist that he was, reluctantly nodded to his equals or betters.

I prefer the earthy individualist self-confidence of Mozart or Beethoven (Imagine either thinking God spoke through them!) to the star-struck self-deifying humility of Messiaen or, worse, straight self-deification of Stockhausen (I am God!). It's the difference between knowing you're dang good and thinking these opinions are being made for you and to your benefit by a committee on Mt. Olympus. Notice that these Messiaenic composers, like Sorabji and Scelci, tend to eventually drift away from the Earth's gravitational field. I think Messiaen did that when he began insisting on his presence at recordings and performances of his music (a primary point of SCORES used to be so people could play your stuff without you needing to be there) and when he wrote this Gigantisaurus. I think more people should have said no to the man toward the middle to end of his life. He needed a sense of proportion. Instead they name a mountain for him out West.

I would say that if late Messiaen floats your Ark, get this, except you already have it. If you're an opera buff and wondering what the fuss is here then be prepared to buy it, struggle through a disc or maybe two, and then spend years staring at that big dusty box on the shelf wondering if it's you, Messiaen, modern music or what. I just dusted mine off for the last time and it's off to the used CD retailer in town. The birds outside are singing up a riot and it's lovely and it doesn't cost a dime. Bye Bye.

5 out of 5 stars Mind-blowing.......2005-02-16

As a lover of opera, Messiaen and 20th century music in general, this was a natural choice for me; after wanting it for years I finally got it for Christmas. I finished it after over a week of listening to one of the eight tableaux at a time; as many reviewers have already said, that is probably the best way to listen to it. It's hard to swallow in one big gulp.

You see, everything about this piece is huge. Messiaen spent four years composing and another four orchestrating it and used every trick in his book, from palindrome and Greek rhythms to invented scales to birdsong. It is scored for seven soloists, an orchestra of 119 (7474-4633, three ondes Martenot, strings, and no less than 41 percussion instruments distributed among five players), and a choir of 150. There are sections in the score in which the conductor has to read upwards of 70 staves in which everybody is doing something different. The score itself comes in eight softcover volumes-one for each of the eight tableaux--on oversized paper and tips the scale at a total of just over fifty pounds. If you want a copy of the score, you'll have to fork over from $250 to $350 each for individual volumes and about $2,500 for the whole thing.

(I will say this, however. Although it seems to be every reviewer's favorite subject, the length of four hours is not unusual for opera. Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro", for example, tends to clock in at just over three; Wagner's operas tend to go from three to four and a half hours and Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" lasts for three and a half. Why, the original version of Glass' "Einstein on the Beach" goes for nearly five!)

My point is that, in spite of all of this size, there are many ways in which the opera is almost minimalist, and that is why it is hard to listen to all at once.

You see, it has been common practice since Stravinsky to use repetition in place of traditional melodic development, but Messiaen takes it to the extreme in this piece. Each character has at least two motives; a great deal of the score is made up of the repetition, alteration and superposition of such. Because of this and his quasi-atonal harmonic language, you can be anywhere from five minutes to an hour or two into it and it'll feel as though the music hasn't gone anywhere. This "static" quality is typical of Messiaen's music, but it's very prominent here and makes for a difficult listening.

Once you get into it, however, the opera plays much like a Marcel Proust novel in that it is immensely rewarding and worth every ounce of effort put into it. I would recommend it for any fan of 20th century opera, or, indeed, for any music lover with an open mind.

As far as this particular performance is concerned, it really doesn't get much better. Kent Nagano, one of the better conductors now living, studied the score with the composer before his death and participated in the premiere performance; thus this is about as musically accurate of a recording of this monster as you're going to get. José van Damm is one of the greatest baritones to ever live, and his performance here is no less than phenomenal. Dawn Upshaw's silky, sweet voice is perfect for the role of the angel and she sings with a beautiful rendition of the often difficult French accent. One of the ondistes is none other than Jeanne Loriod, one of Messiaen's in-laws and who has participated on nearly every ondes Martenot-featuring recording of Messiaen's.

The orchestra's tackling of the inhumanly difficult score is no less than stellar, and the recording's engineering is nearly miraculous. It's hard to believe that it's live!

It doesn't get much better than this, folks. You don't even have to be religious; I myself am an athiest. If you love Messiaen, if you love 20th century opera, or if you just love music and are open-minded, this is a well-spent $60.
Glorious Trinity
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Glorious Trinity
    Anonymous , Johann Sebastian Bach , Johannes Brahms , Maurice Durufle , Gabriel Faure , Olivier Messiaen , Sir Charles H.H. Parry , Francis Poulenc , Henry Purcell , Heinrich Schutz , Charles Villiers Stanford , Christmas Traditional , Tomas Luis de Victoria , William Walton , and Cambridge The Choir of Trinity College
    Manufacturer: RCA
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    AnthemsAnthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    MagnificatsMagnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    MotetsMotets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    OratoriosOratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    PsalmsPsalms | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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    ASIN: B0000024C7
    Release Date: 1995-07-18

    Tracks:

    1. Glorious Trinity: Magnificat
    2. Glorious Trinity: Never Weather-Beaten Sail
    3. Psalms Of David: Der Herr sprach zu meinem, Herren
    4. Glorious Trinity: I Was Glad
    5. Glorious Trinity: Ubi caritas
    6. Glorious Trinity: Tota pulchra es
    7. Lobet den Herrn: I. Lobet den Herrn BWV.320
    8. Lobet den Herrn: II. Hallelujah!
    9. Glorious Trinity: Seigneur, je vous en prie
    10. Glorious Trinity: Exultate Deo
    11. Glorious Trinity: Requiem - In paradisum
    12. Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf, BWV.226: I. Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf: II. Der aber die Herzen: III. Du heilige Brunst
    13. Glorious Trinity: Hear My Prayer
    14. Glorious Trinity: Judas Mercator
    15. Glorious Trinity: Unus Ex Discipulis
    16. Glorious Trinity: O Sacrum Convivium!
    17. Glorious Trinity: Eternal Father
    18. Glorious Trinity: Geistliches Lied
    19. There Is No Rose
    20. Of The Father's Heart
    21. Sweet Was The Song
    22. Glorious Trinity: Requiem - Sanctus
    Lux Æterna [Hybrid SACD]
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • French religious choral music: Ethereal, Blissed Out, Praiseworthy Song
    		 Lux Æterna [Hybrid SACD]

    Manufacturer: Channel Classics Nl
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    ASIN: B0008GGIX4
    Release Date: 2005-06-14

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars French religious choral music: Ethereal, Blissed Out, Praiseworthy Song.......2006-03-24

    This super audio disc set offers quite a lot of choral music, though admittedly it is pricey. Durufle is the main composer here, with his world-famous Requiem (Op. 9) being the centerpiece on the first SA-CD. But the other Durufle works are not fluff. We are given the the brief meditative setting of the Our Father text (Op. 14) plus the longer Messe cum Jubilo (Op. 11). Then the second SA-CD continues intermixed with choral music by Poulenc: (1)Four prayers of St. Francis (1949), and (2)Laudes (hymns of praise) for St. Anthony of Padua. The second SA-CD closes with Messiaen's equally famous motet, O Sacrum Convivium (1937).

    The repertoire point then is just that this 2 SA-CD set contains choral works that stand high in the 20th century French literature. Another congenial aspect is that all of the works are - and were intentionally written by their respective composers to be - devotional, even in a sense liturgical. You can just sing this stuff as great choral music, but you can also sing it as great choral music plus a shared ritual of spirit.

    The singers are a very high quality male group of sixteen from The Netherlands, called The Gents (who were earlier singing together for years as members of the Roden Boys Choir), plus about twelve invited female singers to meet the mixed chorus requirements of the music at hand. The Gents reminds me of a similar group in USA called Chanticleer. Their numbers invite the comparison, but their extremely high quality musicianship across the centuries of western choral literature are really the point of the comparison. It is nice to hear that the invited women are well up to the standards set by The Gents in the first place; and that is all to the good, because you wouldn't wish in this music to have half of the choir reaching high, while the other half sang along on lower levels of technique or tonal and expressive capacity.

    In multi-channel super audio sound, this set will transform your listening space into a plausible and blessed acoustic based on the German Catholic Church of St. Gudula in Rhede. The space is important here, because each composer was quite familiar with various church venues, and so the sounds of the choir need to be one with the organ, particularly in the Durufle Requiem.

    It is difficult if not impossible to fault the music or the singers. Technically, everybody is reaching high levels of breath control, articulation, phrasing, and tonal expressiveness. Subtle power is the watchword phrase here. (One would hardly wish for a ham-fisted, folk song approach to any of this literature.) Musically, these performances go deep, and probably will wear as well as any over the lifespan of your music collection. You can rest as a spirit and as an intellect in how these bejewelled works are performed. You can drift away in the chariot clouds as you listen. You can abide along with the singers and organist. You can even pray or praise in any way your beliefs or your conscience or your sense of intangible realities allows.

    The very last work on the second SA-CD is the Messiaen. Somehow this motet, O Sacrum Convivium, is the perfect conclusion to all that has gone before. One suspects that musical thinking - and maybe even devotional awareness - resulted in the wise ways that each work is programmed in sequence on the two SA-CD's in this set. Ah, how nice and how lovely, that the marketing bees' buzz was sent away in favor of thinking through what order we should have in this set.

    As the Messiaen fades, yet lingers, you may find occasion to hit the repeat buttons on your player. The Messiaen is entirely light-bearing, entirely glowing, entirely voiced in exquisite meaning, not only by the immediate real singers at hand, but somehow by all the rest of us who have ever heard this motet over the decades since 1937.

    Save up your change, then, and splurge when you can on this set. Then let whatever lights of spirit and humanity you know at your best join in celebration with the music and the performers. Bravo to the people at Channel Classics for letting this set be an unblemished example of what a classical SA-CD recording can be these days.

    Kudos all round. Plus lots of stars.
    Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • USEFUL COMPLEMENT TO COMPLETE VERSIONS
    • Good but predictable Messiaen.
    		 Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise

    Manufacturer: Orfeo D'or
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    All Works by MessiaenAll Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
    General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    FrenchFrench | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    OperettasOperettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B000009NOR
    Release Date: 2000-09-16

    Tracks:

    1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Premier Acte - Troisieme Tableau - Le Basier au Lepreux - Comment peut on vivre une telle vie? (Le Lepreux)
    2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Premier Acte - Troisieme Tableau - Le Basier au Lepreux - Dier te donne la paix (Saint Francois)
    3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Premier Acte - Troisieme Tableau - Le Basier au Lepreux - Lepreux, lepreux (L'Ange)
    4. Saint Francois d'Assise: Premier Acte - Troisieme Tableau - Le Basier au Lepreux - Pardonnemoi, Pere (Le Lepreux)
    5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Premier Acte - Troisieme Tableau - Le Basier au Lepreux - Miracle! Miracle! (Le Lepreux)
    6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Introduction
    7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Pere, te souviens tu (Frere Massee)
    8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Une louange (Saint Francois)
    9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Freres oiseaux (Saint Francois)
    10. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Concert d'oiseaux
    11. Saint Francois d'Assise: Deuxieme Acte - Sixieme Tableau - Le Preche aux Oiseaux - Avec quel respect (Frere Massee)

    Tracks:

    1. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Septieme Tableau - Les Stigmates - Seigneur Jesus Christ (Saint Francois)
    2. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Septieme Tableau - Les Stigmates - Le miens, je les ai aimes
    3. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Septieme Tableau - Les Stigmates - O faiblesse (Saint Francois)
    4. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Septieme Tableau - Les Stigmates - Francois
    5. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Adieux, creature de Temps (Saint Francois)
    6. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Pere Framcois, reste avec nous! (Frere Bernard)
    7. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - J'appele :Ha
    8. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Francois ! Francois ! (L'Ange)
    9. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Seigneur ! Seigneur! (Saint Francois)
    10. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Il est parti (Frere Leon)
    11. Saint Francois d'Assise: Troisieme Acte - Huitieme Tableau - La Mort et la nouvelle vie - Autre est l'eclat de la lune

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars USEFUL COMPLEMENT TO COMPLETE VERSIONS.......2005-10-24

    This is a fascinating complement to the complete recordings of Messiaen's massive opera under Ozawa and Nagano. It is based on performances of 4 out of the 8 scenes that Fischer-Dieskau took around Europe soon after its first performance (I heard him at the Festival Hall). This recording was made at the Salzburg Festival of 1985.

    Jose van Dam made the title-part very much his own in early performances of the piece - he sings it on both the complete recordings. But his interpretation has always struck me as a little passive in what is already a very passive opera. Fischer-Dieskau is much more a man of action, much readier to get involved with his disciples, with the Leper, with his beloved birds, even with the Angel. (David Wilson-Johnson took this interpretation even further in a fine semi-staged performance of the complete opera). I think this view of the part is much truer not only to the historical St. Francis, but also to Messiaen's view of him. Just listen to all that hyperactive percussion around him. And, while St. Francis' melodic line may be for the most part sustained legato, that does not preclude drama and involvement. Fischer-Dieskau's voice was beginning to show signs of age by the time this recording was made, but his familiar ability to use words and text to the full reaps huge benefits in these long scenes.

    His is by far the dominant part in this opera. The other singers here are a somewhat mixed bag. Kenneth Riegel is/was the definitive Leper, whether self-pitying about his disease or vocally dancing with ecstasy at his cure. Rachel Yakar, on the other hand, is not really a match for the serene purity of either Christiane Eda-Pierre or Dawn Upshaw on the complete recordings. The Franciscan brothers are a pretty well matched group, whichever version you choose.

    The recording of the live performance here is excellent - clear, vibrant and vivid. There is a greater prominence given to the three Ondes Martenot demanded by the score which, I think, serves the overall sound particularly well. All three conductors have the measure of Messiaen's huge score - if I had to choose one of them, it would probably be Nagano by a short head - but Lothar Zagrosek produces glittering sounds of great depth. His tempi are all well judged - none of the Tableaux outstays its welcome.

    Not necessarily a first choice, these discs, as you'll probably want the complete opera, but well worth hearing alongside one of the other versions.

    3 out of 5 stars Good but predictable Messiaen........1998-12-19

    Through the early 60s, Messiaen was certainly one of the most original and influential voices in music. From about '63 (Et Expecto Ressurectionem) to his final work (Illuminations of the Beyond, 1992) he became almost a parody of himself, his music becoming more and more monumentalized (not in a good way). In some ways St. Francoise is his culmination work--it has everything you'd come to expect from him, stretched out over 6-hours (this CD has a little less than half of it). Then again, its predictability can be seen as its problem. While Elliott Carter, born just a day apart from Messiaen, has continued to surprise and challenge, Messiaen has not. I'd invest my money in a few cheaper CDs: Turangalila-Symphony, Trois Petites Liturgies, Couleurs de la Cite Celeste, and I suppose Quartet for the End of Time.

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