Those who missed Marilyn Nonken and Sarah Rothenberg’s fine performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen on Monday night at Le Poisson Rouge lost out on a brilliant evening. Allan Kozinn in The New York Times this morning praised the pianists’ “clarity and power”:

Ms. Rothenberg, in her notes for the Bridge recording, points out that at the work’s premiere, Ms. Loriod played the first-piano part, which is more detailed and virtuosic, and more rhythmically complex. Ms. Nonken took that part on Monday and moved easily through the filigree in “Amen du Désir” and the alternately dramatic and hypnotic writing in “Amen des Anges, des Saints, du Chant des Oiseaux.”

Ms. Rothenberg played the second-piano part, which Messiaen performed at the premiere and which includes many of the work’s most striking themes, as well as its solid bass writing.

And Ronni Reich, writing for nj.com, called the performance “spellbinding,” and noted that “the performers seamlessly laced together the most delicate cushion of sound, their contributions flawlessly integrated, giving the impression of a single performer. They were equally game as the work heated up, building to emphatic, jazzy constellations that spiraled upwards only to fall back and repeated chords that escalated in fervor.”

Those who missed the concert, have no fear: the new Bridge recording is available for sale at the Superfluities Redux bookstore.