DESCRIPTION:
Tony Arnold, soprano and Jacob Greenberg, piano
from Oliver Messiaen - Harawi
http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/harawi
Works by Olivier Messiaen

Producer: Jacob Greenberg; Session Producers: Ryan Streber (Cantéyodjayâ, Harawi), Kevin McFarland and Daniel Lippel (Harawi); Editing Producer: Jacob Greenberg; Recording Engineer: Ryan Streber www.oktavenaudio.com; Digital Editing, Mixing, Post-Production: Ryan Streber: Piano Technician: Arlan Harriswww.arlanharris.com; CD Design: Jill Malek www.jillmalek.com; Photography: Gus Powell www.guspowell.com
All works recorded at Oktaven Audio, Yonkers, NY. Cantéyodjayâ recorded August 24, 2011; Harawi recorded December 17-19, 2012. Steinway piano.
Special thanks to Hinda Greenberg, David Greenberg, Ryan Streber, Jessica Slaven, Daniel Lippel, Kevin McFarland, Claire Chase, ICE, Jeffrey Ferraiuolo, and Matthew Goulet. This recording was aided by generous fiscal sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts

The solar chaos of vertigo, green dove, limpid pearl, shared shadow -- these indelible images mark Harawi, the last of Messiaen's solo song cycles. The inspiration and title for the deeply colorful cycle comes from Quechua love songs of the South American Andes. Messiaen had long been obsessed by the Tristan legend. He recognized a shared theme of dying lovers between these Andean songs and Wagner's Liebestod, and this attracted him to this exotic source of inspiration. In Harawi, Messiaen's own poetic text describes the journey of lovers, at once ecstatic and cruel, on the other side of the world. His solo piano piece Cantéyodjayâ serves as an overture on this disc of lesser-known masterworks.