Quartet for the End of Time, Theme and Variations

"Expressive, superbly recorded playing from Toronto of Messiaen's mighty quartet...Here, Naxos has produced one of the best-recorded versions of the Quatuor; there's enough ambience to accommodate the big moments, yet all the intimate detail is crisply focused. The Toronto-based Amici Ensemble take full advantage of this...a distinguished, thoughtful interpretation. The disc's appeal is enhanced by an expansive, powerfully expressive account of the Theme et variations."
Gramophone Magazine (July 2001)

A dilapidated piano, a cello with three strings, clarinet and violin were the available instruments to Messiaen as he set to work on a quartet to be performed in his Second World War prison camp. To the young composer it must really have seemed like the end of the world that he expressed in his title. Yet it was a score that did not compromise on virtuosity, the cadenza-like third movement for clarinet being among the most taxing in the instrument's repertoire. Even in those stark surroundings Messiaen introduced birdsong, together with an intense spirituality that marked a very personal musical language in the years that followed. The brisk tempos of the Canadian-based Amici Ensemble does not dilute the sadness, the fourth movement played with considerable energy, while the following cello and piano duet, which often clocks in at around eleven minutes, here lasts little over eight. The result is a lean and fresh approach that I would commend not only as an alternative to the many versions on disc, but as a straightforward first choice. This fleet approach allows space for the coupling of the Theme and Variations for violin and piano, which receives a nice sinuous account from Scott St. John and Patricia Parr, with spot-on string intonation. Realistic sound quality throughout, though a little more space between the two works would have been a bonus.