Signe Bakke - Pour Mi (2013)

Who was ”Mi”, she who inspired Messiaen to write the lovely and intricate work Poèmes pour Mi? This was one of the questions Liv Elise Nordskog and Signe Bakke asked when they began work on this album, after having immersed themselves in Messiaen’s rich and diverse tonal world for many years.

The poet Cécile Sauvage was Messiaen’s mother. Her cycle of poems dating from 1908, L’Âme en Bourgeon (The Soul in Bud) was written while she was awaiting the birth of her son. Almost thirty years later, Olivier Messiaen and his wife, violinist and composer Claire Delbos, were themselves expecting a child. During this time, Delbos set to music the poem cycle of her deceased mother-in-law. At the same time, Messiaen composed a song cycle entitled “Poèmes pour Mi”. Mi was his pet-name for his wife Claire.

L’Âme en Bourgeon and Poèmes pour Mi were premiered at the same concert in Paris in 1937. It is the only time the two works are known to have been performed together -- until the recording of this CD.

Liv Elise Nordskog holds a Master’s degree from the Grieg Academy in Bergen, specializing in the lieder of R. Strauss. She has performed as soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta in Finland, and BIT20 Ensemble, among others. Nordskog has been a violinist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra since 1987.

Signe Bakke studied at the Grieg Academy and the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she received her diploma. She gave her debut concert in Oslo at age twenty-three, and two years later she performed as soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Bakke has been associate professor at the Grieg Academy since 1992.