Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu describes Messiaen as his spiritual mentor, saying that «among the many things I have learned from his music, the concept and experience of the color and form of time will be unforgettable». Both composers, the Frenchman and the Japanese, have incorporated multicultural influences into their compositions. So it makes perfect sense to combine and mix piano works by both composers on one album. This is exactly what Finnish pianist Sanna Vaarni has done.
She successfully traces the often mysterious, in a certain sense minimalist sounds of Takemitsu and can certainly help this timeless music to create narrative moods. The contrasts with Messiaen and his sometimes abrupt rhythms are strong enough to differentiate the compositions, even though Messiaen is also capable of very quiet music (as in Le Baiser de l’Enfant Jésus).
One gets the impression that several dimensions interact in this program. In any case, Sanna Vaarni succeeds in rendering both Takemitsu’s and Messiaen’s worlds plausibly and pianistically on a high level.
Remy Franks – https://www.pizzicato.lu/