Messiaen Fantaisie - Grace Cathedral Messiaen Centenary

Paul Festa, violin, and Steven Vanhauwaert, piano, give the U.S. West Coast premiere performance of the Fantaisie for violin and piano, 1933, by Olivier Messiaen, as part of Grace Cathedral's Messiaen Centenary celebration, April 18, 2008. The show, produced with ODC Theater, included a screening of Festa's award-winning and critically acclaimed film Apparition of the Eternal Church, with organ accompaniment, and a reading from Festa's book OH MY GOD: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Olivier
• Messiaen
• classical
• religious
• violin
• piano
• Paul
• Festa
• Steven
• Vanhauwaert

[xgianpatrick]

Cheers from an old classmate, Mr. Festa. Well done! I'm playing it in two weeks : )

A nice addition to the rep.

[paulfesta]

Cool! Where are you playing it? I have a couple more coming up in October - am now learning the Theme and Variations.

[xgianpatrick]

We have a Messiaen/Crumb festival at the end of September here in AZ: my contributions will be the Fantasie, le Merle Noir, and Oiseaux Exotiques with the orchestra. The cadenzas in Oiseaux are fantastic! It's a bit tricky to learn, but surprisingly comfortable in the hand, and certainly fun to play...7ths and 9ths, 7ths and 9ths, chirp chirp chirp.

[paulfesta]

Sorry I'll miss that concert! Hey if you're in Tempe in a few months, come check out my movie, starring Albert Fuller, which is screening at ASU:

Monday, November 10, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

Arizona premiere of Apparition of the Eternal Church

Beyond Messiaen

Arizona State University

Frank Lloyd Wright's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium

1200 S Forest Ave

Tempe, Arizona

Free admission

[DannyDaWriter]

The opening melody exactly the same as the opening of the second movement of L'ascension!

Anyhow, fascinating work and a lovely performance. Messiaen is among my favourite composers, and works like these continue to affirm my opinion.

[curlyman217]

this is......spectacular? YES!!

[drwewade]

Thanks, Paul! I have enjoyed your documentary and really enjoyed this performance. Perhaps we can arrange a vist to St. Louis for a concert and screening.

-Bill

[roadlover]

verry nice! The pianist is my cousin, pretty funny to see him on youtube:)

[fetishalchemy]

Wow, thanks for posting this clip Paul. I was kind of awestruck by this performance mostly because I had never heard of Messiaen before hearing about your film and the event at Grace Cathedral. That this was its first time ever being performed on the west coast made it all that more special. I've never considered myself a big fan of classical music or followed music academically, but this was "soul" music in every sense of the word. It transcended.

[hewsonhp]

Beautiful - I'm glad I know now about this work! Well done.