Michael Bonaventure - Olivier Messiaen: Organ Works (2008) 2 CDs

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Michael Bonaventure - Olivier Messiaen: Organ Works (2008) 2 CDs

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When, in 1931, Messiaen applied for his post as organist at La Trinité, he wrote to the curate to reassure him that he knew that ‘one must not disturb the piety of the faithful with wildly anarchic chords’. It is not known whether that curate was at La Trinité 20 years later, but it is hard to think of a more appropriate characterisation of the effect of Livre d’orgue than ‘wildly anarchic’, while Alexander Goehr has recalled how Messiaen’s organ-playing during the mid-1950s sounded like electronics. Michael Bonaventure’s playing may not have that effect, but he does get Messiaen’s music to lift off the page, even in the most rigorous pages of the Livre d’orgue. The organ of St Giles, Edinburgh, generally has the power and range of colour needed, with the fierce chords at the opening of ‘Les mains de l’abîme’ fizzing with tension. Slightly more power from the pedals would be welcome, notably in the dazzling central section of the fifth of the Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité. Generally, though, this is a delight for the ears. Far from sluggish, Bonaventure does not allow himself to be rushed in this magnificent cycle. This is not Messiaen the experimenter, but the musical theologian, and Bonaventure captures him well.

Review by Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine

New Messiaen recordings are to be expected during the centenary year: however, where the organ works are concerned, celebrations came early with three complete sets, Dame Gillian Weir pre-eminent but both Jennifer Bate and Olivier Latry having many things to commend them. Delphian made a start on this repertory with Timothy Byram-Wigfield's excellent version of Les corps glorieux, along with two of the shorter pieces (6/06). For this new issue it exchanges St George's Chapel, Windsor, for St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, where Michael Bonaventure tackles two of the most demanding items in the Messiaen canon, placing the brief, rarely heard Monodie between them.

Livre d'orgue (1951) interlaces movements inspired by some of the Bible's more surreal images with the no less mysterious results of elaborate technical mechanisms: so it's as if the composer, having set the music in motion, has little concern with moment-by-moment details. Bonaventure is an ideal interpreter, benefiting from the rich range of sounds available on St Giles' 1992 Rieger instrument, and from a recorded acoustic that is clean, even intimate, with only modest degrees of resonance.

The nine Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité are no less impressive. Some listeners - especially those who, as an alternative to Weir, admire Bate's energy and find Latry too meditative - might resist Bonaventure's tendency to stress the episodic character of the larger structures. But I find this approach entirely in keeping with the uncompromising, at times extravagant spirit of the music, and Bonaventure's meticulous articulation, with all the variety the composer asks for, builds an account of tremendous conviction. I would fault Delphian only for their failure to include the actual titles of the Méditations in the booklet.

Review by Arnold Whittall, Gramophone

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Michael Bonaventure - Olivier Messiaen: Organ Works (2008) 2 CDs

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Michael Bonaventure - Olivier Messiaen: Organ Works (2008) 2 CDs

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