Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincysymphony continued its Proof series of concerts as part of the 2023-24 season with a rare performance of Des Canyons aux étoiles.. (From the Canyons to the Stars), one of Olivier Messiaen’s most significant large-scale orchestral works. Commissioned by the American philanthropist Alice Tully in 1971 to celebrate the United States Bicentennial in 1976, the work received its world premiere performance in New York in 1974.
Inspired by a visit to Utah in 1972, especially the area around Bryce Canyon National Park, Messiaen’s sound world is built on birdsong and an overarching theme of communing with nature. Considered among his most interesting and challenging orchestral scores, the Cincinnati Symphony more than rose to the occasion. Conducted by former CSO Creative Partner Matthias Pintscher, the orchestra brought forth an exhilarating, lustrous and virtuosic sound. Highest praise must go to the percussionists of the orchestra, particularly David Fishlock on glockenspiel and Michael Culligan on xylorimba. How often can you also hear prominent parts for wind machine and geophone in anything other than Messiaen? (Geophone being an instrument of his own invention consisting of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets swirled around to create the sound of shifting sand or earth). The work’s sixth movement for solo horn was given a vivacious, evocative performance by principal horn Elizabeth Freimuth, playing stage left apart from the other musicians on stage.
Guest pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, making a welcome return appearance to Cincinnati, brought spectacular flair, drama and transcendence to his performance (reminiscent of the much-admired Yvonne Loriod, Olivier Messiaen’s wife), particularly in the work’s near-constant birdsong and two solo movements in parts one and three demonstrating the many extremes Messiaen took in his piano writing, in dynamics and in the keyboard’s range.
It was absolutely wonderful to see such a fabulous group of musicians tackle such a daunting, yet rewarding work live, and I sincerely hope it inspires more of Olivier Messiaen’s orchestral music to be performed in Cincinnati in the years to come.