L’extase: Debussy & Messiaen - Songs
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Label: Pentatone
Cat No: PTC5187129
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 6th June 2025
Contents
Works
Ariettes oubliees (6)Chansons de Bilitis (3)
Poemes (5) de Charles Baudelaire
Poemes pour Mi
» Book 2 (nos. 5-9)
Artists
Magdalena Kozena (mezzo-soprano)Mitsuko Uchida (piano)
Works
Ariettes oubliees (6)Chansons de Bilitis (3)
Poemes (5) de Charles Baudelaire
Poemes pour Mi
» Book 2 (nos. 5-9)
Artists
Magdalena Kozena (mezzo-soprano)Mitsuko Uchida (piano)
About
With mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and pianist Mitsuko Uchida, two world stars join hands on L’extase, a collection of songs by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. Debussy was Messiaen’s life-long idol, and their songs are equally colourful, sumptuous, sensual, and occasionally exotic. The album derives its name from the sultry song ‘C’est l’extase langoureuse’ from Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées, and this song cycle is combined with his Chansons de Bilitis and Cinq Poèmes des Baudelaire, while Messiaen is represented by the second book of his Poèmes pour Mi, a declaration of love for his first wife Claire Delbos. This recording demonstrates the profound affinity of both performers with French music, as well as their congeniality as musical partners.
With L'extase, star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená presents the seventh album of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented Il giardino dei sospiri, Soirée (both 2019), Nostalgia (2021), Folk Songs (2023), the title role in Handel’s Alcina and Czech Songs (both 2024). One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She makes her PENTATONE debut.
With L'extase, star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená presents the seventh album of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented Il giardino dei sospiri, Soirée (both 2019), Nostalgia (2021), Folk Songs (2023), the title role in Handel’s Alcina and Czech Songs (both 2024). One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág. She makes her PENTATONE debut.
Sound/Video
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1Debussy: 3 Chansons de Bilitis: 1. La flûte de Pan
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2Debussy: 3 Chansons de Bilitis: 2. La chevelure
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3Debussy: 3 Chansons de Bilitis: 3. Le tombeau des Naiades
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4Debussy: 5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire: 1. Le Balcon
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5Debussy: 5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire: 2. Harmonie du soir
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6Debussy: 5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire: 3. Le jet d’eau
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7Debussy: 5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire: 4. Recueillement
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8Debussy: 5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire: 5. La mort des amants
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9Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 1. C’est l’extase langoureuse
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10Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 2. Il pleure dans mon cœur
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11Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 3. L’ombre des arbres
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12Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 4. Chevaux de bois
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13Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 5. Green
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14Debussy: Ariettes oubliées: 6. Spleen
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15Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (Deuxième Livre): 1. L’epouse
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16Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (Deuxième Livre): 2. Ta voix
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17Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (Deuxième Livre): 3. Les deux guerriers
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18Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (Deuxième Livre): 4. Le collier
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19Messiaen: Poèmes pour Mi (Deuxième Livre): 5. Prière exaucée
Europadisc Review
Although they have been working together periodically for the past 20 years, it is only now that mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and pianist Mitsuko Uchida have released their first album. This disc of songs by Debussy and Messiaen may seem an unusual venture for them, but Kožená has been singing the role of Mélisande in Debussy’s only opera for some years now, while Uchida’s acclaimed recording of the composer’s Études dates back to 1989. Debussy was also one of Olivier Messiaen’s musical idols, even if their styles – the older master more detached and calculating even at its most involving, the younger one prone to moments of headily spiritual ecstasy – are very different.
The programme begins with one of Debussy’s greatest works for the voice, the marvellously contained three Chansons de Bilitis (1897–98). These settings of supposedly ancient classical texts are actually poems from a cycle of ‘pseudotranslations’ by Pierre Louÿs, published in Paris in 1894. Their melodic gestures and harmonic inflections are contained yet wonderfully evocative, recalling the style of the Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune (1894) and – in the central song (‘La chevelure’) – Pelléas et Mélisande. Kožená’s naturally velvety tone finds a perfect match in the way Uchida caresses the keys of the Steinway grand at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Suffolk, and the result is one of the most beguiling accounts of these songs on disc, even if one can imagine performances that have a more sharply-defined immediacy. In the context of the disc as a whole, the block chords towards the climax of the final song, ‘Le tombeau des Naiades’, seem to anticipate the world of Messiaen.
Before the Messiaen, however, are two earlier Debussy song cycles. The five Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire (1887–89) have long been regarded as among the composer’s most Wagnerian creations, dating from the time of his visits to Bayreuth. Certainly the opening number, ‘Le Balcon’, is – at almost 10 minutes long – comfortably Debussy’s longest single song setting. Nor are the work’s challenges restricted to the voice alone: the piano part too is well nigh impossible as notated in the published score, yet Kožená and Uchida rise magnificently to the work’s challenges, benefitting from the new ease at the top of the range that the singer has discovered in recent years. From the expansiveness of the first song to the anticipations of Pelléas in the central ‘Le jet d’eau’, these songs cover a wide expressive range. There are echoes of Wagner’s Tristan in the fourth number, ‘Recueillement’, while the final one, ‘La mort des amants’ (actually the first to be composed), evokes the ecstasy of two lovers with typically Debussyan clarity.
The album takes its titles from the first of the six Ariettes oubliées, composed to texts by Verlaine a couple of years before the Baudelaire settings, but not published until 1904. That first song is Debussy at his most languorous, a quality perfectly caught by these performers, while the bleakness of ‘L’ombre des arbres’ contrasts vividly with the liveliness of ‘Chevaux de bois’. Kožená conveys all the vulnerability, as well as reserves of inner strength, in the final two songs, ‘Green’ and ‘Spleen’. Kožená has recorded these songs before, in an orchestral version by Brett Dean conducted by Robin Ticciati, but these new accounts have a greater intimacy.
As does the second book of Olivier Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi (1936–37). Presumably the constraints of CD running time prevented the recording of the first four songs of the cycle (i.e. Book 1), but the five songs of Book 2 provide both a complement and a vivid contrast with the Debussy settings. Here, in songs composed for a grand soprano dramatique and dedicated to his first wife, the composer and violinist Claire Delbos, Messiaen combines flights of erotic fervour with profound religious spirituality in a uniquely personal way (biblical precedents include the Old Testament Song of Songs). In many ways these songs present a far more direct, up-front experience than the more elusive world of the Debussy cycles, but Kožená and Uchida deliver a fabulously nuanced and entrancing performance, one which successfully evokes both the erotic and the spiritual aspects. The angelic visions of ‘Ta voix’ and the mingling of physical love with religious joy in the final ‘Prière exaucée’ are particularly well captured.
This is an exceptionally rewarding programme, performed with much thought and dedication, balancing the cerebral with the instinctive, and complemented by a warm recording and customarily excellent notes from French music expert Nigel Simeone. What’s not to like?
Reviews
The many links between Debussy and Messiaen remain under-explored in recorded terms, making this revealing programme of mainly early songs an appealing recital in its own right. ... The Debussy collections move backwards from the late 1890s to the mid-1880s, starting with verse by Pierre Louÿs – the acute Sapphicisms of Chansons de Bilitis inspiring songs to whose rarefied expression Magdalena Kožená is keenly attuned. ... Mitsuko Uchida responds at all times with a poise and insight to make one regret that she has not played more French music. ... the qualities conveyed by the present artists cannot be gainsaid. ‘L’extase’ indeed! Richard WhitehouseGramophone July 2025
Kozena and Uchida are an unlikely but potent pairing ... The composer is mostly Debussy, with 13 minutes of Messiaen added, and the ecstasy flagged up by the album’s title, L’extase, never ceases. ... it remains an intoxicating album, provided that you like French perfume and are comfortable swooning without stop for 71 minutes. Geoff BrownThe Times 4 June 2025
The three Debussy cycles shine thanks to the luminous sheen of Kožená’s voice. Compared to some other performances on record, Kožená and Uchida give themselves more time, allowing a potent atmosphere to build. ... Messiaen had a Wagnerian soprano for the premiere of his Poèmes pour Mi and Kožená is not that, but her mezzo quality comes into play, providing depth and variety of tone colours. There is much beauty here and no little sensitivity.Financial Times
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