“Cellist Matt Haimovitz calls playing the Quator is a spiritual experience and listening to this performance is nothing short of that.”

Our release of Akoka with David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz, Jonathan Crow, Geoffrey Burleson, Socalled received a Luister 10! Clarinetist David Krakauer and cellist Matt Haimovitz’s AKOKA lift Messiaen’s transcendent 1940-41 work Quartet for the End of Time out of the polite context of a chamber music performance, placing it in a dramatic 21st century setting that drives home its gravity and impact. Below is part of the review:

With goosebumps on my arms and tears in my eyes I listen to the unbelievable stretched-out melodies in the fifth movement (ode to the eternity of Jesus) and the seventh movement (ode to the immortality of Jesus), where the cello and violin are accompanied by clock-like piano chords; so terribly beautiful and so characteristic for the devoutly Catholic Messiaen.

photo by Daniel Forniés Soria

Read the complete review: Luister Magazine – September/ October 2017 Edition