One wouldn’t immediately link Franz Liszt and Olivier Messaien, yet both composers celebrate virtuosity and sonority in equal doses, while their sound worlds coexist to stimulating effect, as Fredrik Ullén cogently proves in this release. Ullén juxtaposes works by each composer, mainly alternating between Messiaen’s Petites Esquisses d’oiseaux and Liszt’s Consolations. Liszt’s Sancta Dorothea serves as an introduction to the first of his two St. Francis Légendes (St. François d’Assise: La Prédication aux oiseaux), whose evocations of birdsong easily transition into Messaien’s colorful keyboard aviary.
The prodigious multi-leveled textural contouring and varied articulations characterizing Ullén’s extraordinary Sorabji and Ligeti recordings distinguish his mastery of Messiaen. He balances thick, slow-moving bass-register chords so that every note speaks, while rapid bird-song passagework is never less than crisp and purposefully shaped. Indeed, Ullén’s control of sudden dynamic shifts and quick leaps from one register to the next justify his penchant for fast tempos in Cantéyodjayâ, even though the jagged rhythms take on a slightly humorous aura in more moderately paced performances (I’m thinking of Robert Sherlaw-Johnson’s early 1970s Decca version).
However, Ullén’s Liszt convinces less. The notes are all there, but when you compare his set of Consolations to those of Jorge Bolet, you can’t help but notice the older pianist’s more pliable singing line. Ullén’s combination of mechanical literalism and forced rubato in the second Légende transforms Liszt’s evocation of ocean waves into a dry well. While Ullén shapes the first Légende’s bird-like trills and flourishes with more stylish sensitivity, he can’t match Ciccolini and Kempff for rhetorical breadth and tonal shimmer. The sonics approach BIS’s finest standard, except for stridency in louder moments. My conclusion from this interesting program experiment is that Ullén should leave Liszt alone, and play more Messiaen.
