CD review time!

I have now filed away Olivier Messiaen's opera, Saint François d'Assise, for long-term storage after spending a few months getting to know it. I bought it at Tower Records' going-out-of-business sale because, well, I've always loved the late Mr. Messiaen's work, but a four-disk opera set usually costs $60-$80 and I don't love opera that much. But put that same box set on sale for 60% off and my love of the Frenchman's music is able to overcome my natural resistance to opera and spending money. I'll spare you a long write-up of Mr. Messiaen's musical style and biography; you can find one here at Wikipedia if you need, but I'll help you with his name right here: It's pronounced "mess-ee-ah(n)".

Given my confession that opera isn't my thing, you may not be surprised to learn that I approach the work less as a story with a plot and dramatic movement than as a large musical work like a lengthy symphony with voices. Frankly, while I speak French, I don't typically understand the lyrics of English-language operas, let alone other tongues, due to the strained way singers mash up vowels in opera.

This is a nearly four-hour opera divided into eight scenes and obviously is about St. Francis of Assisi. So, how does it work, musically? The sound vocabulary of brittle pitched percussion sounds from the xylophone and glockenspiels, mixed with whooshing brass, crystalline strings and whirling woodwinds typical of Mr. Messiaen's works? Check. Birdsong-based melodies? Of course. Interludes of animated, herky-jerky rhythms? Yup. But is there anything special here, compared to his masterpieces like the Turangalîla-Symphonie or the Quartet for the End of Time? Not really.

It's a pleasant work that shows what a skilled musician the composer was, but the essential unity of the work is missing. There is no sense of motion or progression. Instead, each act seems static and a bit motionless, a common failing for this composer, magnified by the size of the work and the vocal melodies--which tend to be simpler than his usual instrumental tunes (Perhaps a failing of the human voice, lacking the agility and flexibility of, say, a clarinet or xylophone?). The singers all put forth a good effort, most of them are elegant and pure, reflecting the reverence the composer obviously had for the title subject and Kent Nagano conducts unobtrusively, finding a consistent tone with the Hallé Orchestra early and maintaining it throughout. Still, there are no exciting moments in this opera, no spiky outbursts of exotic birdsong and joyful, playful melodies that caper and delight like his best works. Without that sense of joy and fun, the work gets a little, well, boring.

I always find mature works by Olivier Messiaen to be deeply satisfying, perhaps that's because he clearly rooted his inspiration in a profound, mystical Catholic faith. No matter the medium, solo piano to an expanded orchestra with chorus and singers, his celebration of the unseen creator is palpable to me. Thus, while I don't find this opera to be a brilliant work, it remains a pleasure to listen to, for all the beauty you can hear from this unique voice.

7 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Bela Bartok: The String Quartets, disk 2
• Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 4 (Sir Georg Solti conducting)