SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA RELEASES RARELY RECORDED MASTERPIECES OF FRENCH COMPOSER OLIVIER MESSIAEN: Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine and Poèmes pour Mi
Worldwide Release August 18, 2017
Available for Pre-sale August 4 on Amazon and iTunes
Seattle, WA – Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony further explore the colorful world of 20th-century French modernism with a new album featuring two rarely recorded masterpieces of Olivier Messiaen. Offering an intimate view into the poetic and spiritual facets of Messiaen’s work, Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine alongside Poèmes pour Mi create an album with exceptional soundscapes and rich textures. This album is a continued exploration into the repertoire of Morlot’s fellow French countrymen and joins past Seattle Symphony Media releases of Dutilleux, Ravel, Varèse, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Debussy.
To obtain a physical or digital review copy of the release, photos, liner notes or any other information on Seattle Symphony Media, please contact Shiva Shafii at shiva.shafii@seattlesymphony.org.
RECORDING DETAILS
Ludovic Morlot, conductor
Jane Archibald, soprano
Cynthia Millar, ondes Martenot
Michael Brown, piano
Northwest Boychoir
Seattle Symphony
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Poèmes pour Mi
Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine
Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony present passionate performances of two rarely recorded masterpieces by Morlot's countryman, French composer Olivier Messiaen. One work celebrates Messiaen’s love for his wife, the other his commitment to his faith. Together they make up an album of sacred and transcendent beauty, showing the two sides of one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
Total Timing: 59:26 // Catalog Number: SSM1016 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay //
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA CDs in memory of her husband Craig.
Recorded in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington. Poèmes pour Mi was recorded on September 15 and 16, 2016. Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine was recorded live in concert on January 5, 7 and 8, 2017.
Performances of Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine were generously supported by the Judith Fong Music Director’s Fund and were presented as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks
Season.
Digital downloads and CDs are available through iTunes, Amazon, Qobuz, Primephonic, Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks. Recordings can be streamed through Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Google Play, Rhapsody and Microsoft Groove.
ABOUT SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA
Launched in 2014, Seattle Symphony Media is the Seattle Symphony’s independent in-house record label. The Symphony has an extensive catalogue of nearly 150 recordings, which have brought forth three Grammy Awards, 21 Grammy Award nominations and two Emmy Awards throughout its history. Under the direction of Music Director Ludovic Morlot, and President & CEO Simon Woods, the Symphony's in-house record label features both “core repertoire” and some of the eclectic and contemporary programming for which the Seattle Symphony has become recognized. The label includes both studio recordings and performances captured live in concert, allowing the organization an unprecedented breadth of repertoire choices.
All recordings are made in the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and engineered by the Grammy Award- winning recording engineer Dmitriy Lipay. Using the Symphony’s own state-of-the-art in-house recording studio, recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing onstage with naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range. Distributed by Naxos of America, the recordings are available in both physical and digital formats from a variety of retailers. Digital content is available in stereo, “Mastered for iTunes,” 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound.
ABOUT LUDOVIC MORLOT
As the Seattle Symphony's Music Director, Ludovic Morlot has been received with extraordinary enthusiasm by musicians and audiences alike, who have praised him for his deeply musical interpretations, his innovative programming and his focus on community collaboration. From 2012 to 2014 Morlot was also Chief Conductor of La Monnaie, one of Europe's most prestigious opera houses.
In the U.S., Ludovic Morlot has conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony. Additionally, he has conducted the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.
Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contributions to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music.
ABOUT THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The Seattle Symphony is one of America's leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard from September through July by more than 500,000 people through live performances and radio broadcasts. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community engagement programs reach over 65,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season. The orchestra has made nearly 150 recordings and has received three Grammy Awards, 21 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.