DAME GILLIAN WEIR
REVIEWS OF
OLIVIER MESSIAEN - THE COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS
ON ORIGINAL RELEASE - Collins Classics 70312
"C'est magnifique!"
Yvonne Loriod Messiaen
"Weir's virtuosity and technical control are staggering. She conveys unshakeable conviction and
certainty throughout....totally gripping performances. An achievement of outstanding musical
integrity."
Gramophone
"One of the most impressive instrumental recording projects I have ever encountered."
“This intégrale is a worthy successor to that by Messiaen himself.”
Le
Monde (
"This is the musical event of a lifetime. This issue ranks among the supreme achievements in the
entire
field of instrumental recording."
The Organ
"This is a Messiaen cycle that should now enter the shelves of every devotee of his music as a
preferred
version." (One of the "Best
CDs of 1994")
BBC Music Magazine
“Superlative playing.”
Fono
Forum (
"This is a magnificent achievement. I doubt if Collins has ever issued a more important
recording than this." (A "Pick of the Year")
CD Review
"Simply tremendous."
BBC Record Review
"On the king of instruments Gillian Weir is the undisputed queen. [Her Messiaen release] is
stunning."
Keyboard Review
"Gillian Weir's achievement is a massive one."
The Times
"A towering achievement."
National Public Radio
"Gillian Weir's matchless Messiaen....This corpus of organ music - incontrovertibly the most
profound and significant of the 20th century - has here found a recording which in itself is a
landmark in the history of recorded
sound."
Organists' Review
"[Gillian Weir's Messiaen intégrale] can be counted an absolute triumph. Her authenticity of
performance is beyond challenge. This release represents one of the major recording triumphs of
the Century.
In Tune
GILLIAN WEIR
REVIEWS OF
OLIVIER MESSIAEN – THE COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS
ON RE-RELEASE – Priory (PRCD 921-926)
“You will never hear a finer recording of Messiaen’s work than this”
Classic FM Magazine, March 2003
“Gillian Weir’s Messiaen cycle remains the best of all. It is, quite simply, one of the finest organ recordings ever made.”
Gramophone (
“It may be blasphemous for some to suggest that a composer’s works are often better played by a non-composing virtuoso musician than by the creator himself, but in all honesty no-one understands or plays this music better than this English virtuoso.”
The
Omnibus Essential guide to Classical CDs
“Gillian Weir was born to play Messiaen. Every facet of the music – technical, spiritual, emotional – is conveyed with conviction and intensity.”
Gramophone (Christopher Nickol), February 2004
“Her consummate artistry, impeccable musicianship, faultless virtuosity, rhythmic plasticity, and vitality enable her to penetrate all the complexities of the music, and render its essential spirit.”
The American Organist, October 2004
“These performances remain outstanding. No other player seems quite to equal Weir’s remarkable identification with the reflective and dramatically explosive extremes of Messiaen’s idiom. …Despite the achievements of {other players} Gillian Weir’s performances again claim the definitive status which they were accorded when they were first released.”
Gramophone
Good CD Guide 2004
“Astonishing virtuosity and control.”
Best available – Penguin Record Guide Yearbook
2004/5
“Priory has taken what was already a marvelous disc and made it even better…plaudits by the bucket-load.”
BBC Music Magazine, April 2003
“This is everything a great recording should be: top-drawer music, artist and organ. This benchmark series of recordings is destined to be a classic.”
Choir and Organ, September 2003
“Gillian Weir combines electrifying clarity with overwhelming power.”
Best available – BBC Music Magazine, November 2004
“Weir’s understanding of Messiaen’s music is clear… Her recordings have earned her top marks from critics everywhere.”
The American Record Guide, Jan/Feb 2005
“If Messiaen is misunderstood after this recording, it is not Gillian Weir’s fault. She plays with a surety that could only be brought on by the confidence of a Messiaen scholar, which she is, and her ‘inside track’ with the works comes through in performances. This is a reference-shelf work, one to pull down and attend to when in doubt about the interpretation of any of these pieces.”
The American Organist, October 2005
“This is a definitive recording, bestowing the touch of le maître.”
The American Organist, March 2006
“The authority and conviction of her playing shines out through the entire project.”
Penguin Record Guide 2005 – chosen as “Key Recording (the basis for a collection)