BlowUp Magazine – blowupmagazine.com/

La pianista Sanna Vaarni ha scelto di porre a confronto composizioni di Olivier Messiaen e Töru Takemitsu, scelte per cercare punti di contatto tra i due autori e, per estensione, fra la cultura musicale occidentale e orientale. E un raffronto non inedito, anche perché Takemitsu non ha mai nascosto di dovere molto al maestro francese, ma la bravura della Vaarni, grazie a esecuzioni che si indovinano ricche di passione verso la materia, riesce a darne una lettura convincente e chiarificatrice. Al di la delle specificità delle singole partiture, puntualmente descritte nelle curatissime note del libretto, vale la pena immergersi in un ascolto, magari notturno, continuo e non interrotto da letture, per meglio apprezzare il flusso di musiche che continuano a resistere allo scorrere del tempo con bella energia interiore. [7.8]

Piercario Poggio, Gennaio 2025, Pagina 88 n. 320 – https://www.blowupmagazine.com/

Klassik Heute – klassikheute.com

Les Yeux clos” – With closed eyes, is the title of this CD, which is taken from a piano piece by Toru Takemitsu. That could hardly be more fitting, as it also describes the listening position in which one can best enjoy this CD: relaxed, in peace, with closed eyes and listening completely to what is caressing the ears. That is what this music does. The pianist Sanna Vaarni has combined works by Takemitsu with works by Olivier Messiaen. The excerpts from the cycle 20 Regards sur l’enfant Jésus and Île de feu fit perfectly with the humble and sensual music of the Japanese composer, which, like Messiaen’s music, has something deeply ritualistic and sacred about it. Takemitsu’s music is deeply connected to nature; for Messiaen it is creation and God. A largely self-taught composer, Takemitsu’s career followed a rather vague course, ranging from the avant-garde of the 1960s, through a French period of ethereal, atmospheric music influenced by Debussy and Messiaen, to a more romantic, even nostalgic style.

Spiritual Depth

In this respect, there is a musical level on which these two composers fit together, as well as the content. Sanna Vaarni shows this very well by capturing the ritual rigor and spiritual depth of this music in tones with fascinating delicacy. Takemitsu’s delicate sound webs fascinate from the very first note, and Messiaen’s works, which are deeply filled with the deep faith of their creator, also have a thoroughly sacred aura in Vaarni’s interpretation. Everything here is simply convincing: the well-thought-out combination of two composers who have a lot in common, and the equally subtle and subtle rendition by Sanna Vaarni.

Guido Krawinkel – http://www.klassik-heute.de/4daction/www_medien_einzeln?id=24944&CDS30