http://bernard-cavanna.com
Messe un jour ordinaire (Mass a ordinary Day)
Press in English and french
Libération, Le Monde, Presse régionale, mensuels ...
Press releases following the release of the CD and of the first concerts with 'Messe un jour ordinaire'. (Mass a ordinary Day)
Le Monde March 31st, 1998
A humanistic gamble under the guise of a satirical Eucharist.
The long ovation that was awarded to Cavanna at the end of his concert will have no doubt him reminded him of the one he received in the Théatre des Amandiers for his 'la Confession impudique', a rare contemporary success of the opera world. The foundation of Cavanna's work rests upon a very efficient composition; as astute in the smallest of details as it is in the overall dramatic organization, as sharp in the use of tone colour as it is in the processing of sound (particularly for Laurence who switches between talking, singing, and a very reflective melismatic performance.
Pierre Gervasoni
Libération April 22nd, 1996
Bernard Cavanna's unconventional Eucharist
The work is not welcoming: it does not seek to allure - the composer admits to hating the saccharine - because it is worrying, and it cannot be reduced to an ideologically generous thesis represented musically. Through a long and ritualized narration, it strips bare the dichotomy between mass and individual with so simple a roughness, and a harshness reminiscent of a Soutine painting. It is a work of flesh and- as asserted by the booklet - of meat.
Dominique Druhen
La Provence April 5th, 1998
Complete shock!
A work that captivates both thanks to its peak, the outburst of lavish, captivating, and extremely detailed sonorities, as well as its tender and desperate testimonial - much like a violin solo - its sarcasm, its shouts and screams, before exhaustion takes over. A reflective oratorio, beautifully executed, one of those one wishes to enter the repertoire...
Georges Gallician
Lettre du Musicien September, 1996
The expressive power of the composition lies first and foremost in the music: the prosodic words, especially those of Laurence, the theatrical contrast that they offer compared to the baroque and bel canto singing of the two other soloists, the originality of the chorals and the finesse in the design of the instrumental ensemble. Cavanna has composed a solemn, expressionistic, and loud opera, that nonetheless deals with daily occurrences.
Jacques Bonnaure
Le Monde May 7th, 1996
... Cavanna is a gifted, eloquent musician. The Eucharist unfolds through ferocious expressiveness. The timbre combinations are undeniably intense: Cavanna knows how to work a rich palette, almost pompously, without ever dulling your attention. His usage of the brass section is especially commendable.
Jean-Emmanuel Fousnaquer
Charente Maritime April 24th, 1996
The extraordinary Eucharist of Bernard Cavanna.
Cavanna's Eucharist is one of the finest examples of what French contemporary minds are capable of. Far from being an elitist work, this ceaseless control that never stops shifting knows how to entrap the broadest of audiences with its fast-paced addictive rhythm.
Courrier de l'Ouest June 11th, 1996
Bernard Cavanna's 'Messe un jour ordinaire': shocking! What a shock!
Such a sonant blizzard! Such stamina! The standing audience could not stop itself from praising this contemporary musical visionary, while the terrible century takes its last breaths.
Christian Desbois
La Marseillaise April 8th, 1998
...a disconcerting overture imbued with sulfur of 'Messe un jour ordinaire' in which Bernard Cavanna disrupts the liturgy with the gushing comments of a young woman... No words could possibly express. What a shock!
Gabriel Vialle
La Lettre du Musicien April, 1998...
'Messe un jour ordinaire', by the extremely sensitive musician that is Bernard Cavanna, affirms itself as one of the major French musical works marking the end of this century...
Bruno Serrou
Le Monde de la Musique November, 1994
The score is breathtaking and wonderfully composed. The duration is of an utter finesse that lasts until an excruciatingly simple coda.
Dominique Druhen
Le Monde de la Musique May, 2006
The intense emotions that we experienced when the first version was created were just as powerful as this remake. His composing always aims for clarity, even when the sought goal is chaos.
Dominique Druhen
Le Monde de la Musique June, 1998
Bernard Cavanna is not concerned in the least by the stylistic purity of his music. In his 'la Messe un jour ordinaire', he seeks oppositions, shocking annihilations not for their aesthetic merit, but rather for theatrical reasons that have to do with the message he wants to convey. The consequence is a constant technical effort, and the composing in this contemporary 'oratorio' is always efficient, diverse, and astute. The dexterously balanced musical oppositions bestow an undeniable strength on Cavanna...
Costin Cazaban
Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (Strasbourg)October 9th, 1994
The music though enticing, it does not direct the attention away from the blasphemous booklet, inspired by the standard Eucharist, Laurence's interview (Died of AIDS) The depiction of the tragedy of AIDS does not warrant blaspheming against the crucifixion
G.B.
Hebdoscope (Strasbourg) 4th till 11th of October, 1994
Cavanna's score is impressive, in spite of the reduced size of the ensemble. It reinforces and concretizes the text, often through a abundance of tones, timbres and colours. Cavanna, young as he may be, has a lot to say.
Gabriel Andres
Musica Falza April, 2000
...thus, Bernard Cavanna's 'Messe un jour ordinaire', produced by MFA-Radio France, might well be the masterpiece of this modification of sensibilities that abandons the expressive solemnity post-serialism for the cold humour that hooks today's slightly more cynical audience.
Omer Corlaix