OLIVIER MESSIAEN/ VINGT REGARDS SUR L’ENFANT-JESUS
Aleksandra Juozapėnaitė-Eesmaa, piano
SECD008–009, TT:  2.04’13”
The French composer Olivier Messiaen created a unique musical language based on his own system of harmony and rhythm. Monumental cyclical forms prevail in his work.  The cycle “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus“ createt in 1944 and dedicated to his future wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod.
In this double CD the cycle of 20 pieces for piano is performed by Aleksandra Juozapėnaitė-Eesmaa, a Lithuanian pianist who has been based in Tallinn since 1977. In the mid-1970s she studied contemporary French music(Debussy, Ravel,Boulez, Xenakis) at the Paris National Conservatoire. Juozapėnaitė-Eesmaa became interested in Messian’s work, and at the composer’s recommendation enrolled in Yvonne Loriod’s class, where she started a sistematic study of his music. She studied and rehearsed “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus“. The artistic individuality of Juozapėnaitė-Eesmaa is characterised by a harmony of rationality and emotionality, which helps her to make convincing interpretations of classical and contemporary music.An exellent sense of form, depth of feeling, logic of thought and an allembracing tranquillity are distinct features of her interpretations.
She has released  ten records and CDs under Lithuanian, Estonian, German, French and Japanese labels.