‘Harawi’ Review: Messiaen’s Song Cycle Comes to California

It’s hardly novel these days to combine music originally written just for voice and instruments with additional forms of artistic expression. Bach’s Passions, Schubert’s “Winterreise” and György Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments” are handy examples.

So it’s no shock to find Olivier Messiaen’s little-known “Harawi,” a cycle of 12 songs for soprano and piano lasting roughly an hour, getting this treatment. Nor is it any surprise to learn that the agent of such an effort is the nimble, multidisciplinary American Modern Opera Company, generally known by the acronym AMOC*.