Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus

Editor's Choice (Gramophone Magazine) October 2002

Critic's Choice - Gramophone Magazine 2002

'Steven Osborne's performance is one of towering authority and technical achievement … [He] rises to the challenges of the work magnificently and succeeds in delivering one of Hyperion's finest piano recordings - quite an achievement in a catalogue of outstanding piano discs' (Gramophone)

***** Five Stars Pick of the Month BBC Music Magazine (October 2002)

"This is a complete experience, that remarkably, just about holds off the substantial competition." (BBC Music Magazine)

BBC Music Magazine - Best CDs of 2002

Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus is one of the most grandly conceived works in the piano literature. It was composed in 1944 in Paris, during terribly troubled times. Although it met with a mixed critical reception, the Vingt Regards are now recognized as one of the most important piano works of the twentieth century.
Steven Osborne is the ideal interpreter of this deeply religious, joyfully ecstatic music. He has played the complete Vingt Regards many times in concert, and after one performance at London's Wigmore Hall, The Independent wrote: "no pianist, surely, can have done it more justice … Osborne had a wonderful sense of sweep and colour [and] had his listeners rapt for no less than two hours and 10 minutes without an interval. Even unbelievers might have felt like falling to their knees".

Combining virtuoso aplomb with a deep spiritual understanding, we believe that this recording captures the atmosphere of this great music more than any other. Osborne's Messiaen is an overwhelming and intensely fulfilling musical experience - one not to be missed.

CRITICS' CHOICE (GRAMOPHONE)
EDITOR'S CHOICE (GRAMOPHONE)
BEST OF THE YEAR (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH)
BEST CD OF 2002 (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE)
THE BEST OF 2002 (FONOFORUM)
ALBUM OF THE WEEK (MUSIC WEEK)

'few possess the spiritual, emotional and physical stamina required for a successful interpretation of the complete cycle … Steven Osborne's new account certainly demonstrates these qualities in abundance' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Breathtaking … Not just a first-class performance, magnificently recorded, but a very important structural statement on playing one of the last century's masterpieces of piano literature' (The Glasgow Herald)

'Steven Osborne's performance is one of towering authority and technical achievement … [He] rises to the challenges of the work magnificently and succeeds in delivering one of Hyperion's finest piano recordings - quite an achievement in a catalogue of outstanding piano discs' (Gramophone)

'there are two reasons for saluting this new set: because it is an extremely fine performance of the Vingt Regards and because it reveals a pianist of exceptional gifts' (Gramophone)

'a performance of commanding virtuosity, deep poetry and ravishing colour' (Gramophone)

'Osborne's revelatory performance is a blinding tour de force of interpretive and pianistic incandescence. Awesome' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Awe-inspiring' (The Sunday Times)

'Outstanding' (The Independent)

'An ideal combination of spirituality and transcendent virtuosity. This is an outstanding achievement. If you enjoy Messiaen's music, you need to hear this' (BBC Radio 3, 'CD Review')

'Anyone looking for a recording of Messiaen's most famous piano work can do no better than Osborne's' (The Guardian)

'playing of absorbing intensity ... One of the most successful and spectacular piano discs of recent years' (The Daily Telegraph)

'Hyperion's presentation, like the recorded sound, complements Osborne's magnificent grasp of the music … It is without question one of the finest versions of the Vingt Regards to have appeared' (International Record Review)

'Every movement gives a new cause for wonder at the luminosity, the sensitivity of touch or the febrile energy revealed in Osborne's playing. He is accurate but daring, precise but impassioned, strong but gentle, as excellent in detail as in overall shape. Maybe you'd just better go and buy it' (Pianist)

'an original and personal reading … This newcomer then, is a compelling addition to the catalogue, beautifully set down … Recommended' (International Piano)