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Visions offers Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s return to Pentatone, presenting a programme revolving around Messiaen’s intoxicating Visions de l‘amen for two pianos. This centrepiece is surrounded by Enescu’s Carillon nocturne, Knussen’s Prayer Bell Sketch and Clock IV from Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks. The works performed all share a fascination for the sound of bells, and Stefanovich and Aimard invite the listener on a mesmerizing acoustic journey. Tamara Stefanovich is captivating audiences worldwide with a broad repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary composers, and made her Pentatone debut with the critically-acclaimed album Influences (2019). Widely acclaimed as a key figure in the music of our time and as a uniquely significant interpreter of piano repertoire from every age, Pierre-Laurent Aimard enjoys an internationally celebrated career. His exclusive engagement to Pentatone has led to a complete recording of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux (2018) and a recording of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Eroica Variations (2021). “Messiaen is a colour sorcerer, light architect and time illusionist. The acoustical drunkenness paired with the need to build a sound cathedral was for me a magnet from the first time I heard Visions. Pierre-Laurent and I played both parts respectively and it seems that this fact and constellation makes for a reading of complete commitment to building a structure from all sides, in and out. As with constructing physical bells, you have to allow alchemy of matter and ether to vibrate in a mystical way, and this is needed in today’s world breath and visions should guide us on.” - Tamara Stefanovich