Last modified on Wed 3 Mar 2021 11.08 EST In autumn, the soprano Gweneth Ann Rand and pianist Simon Lepperperformed Messiaenâs mammoth song cycle Harawi in the Wigmore Hall, with a small, spread-out audience physically present in front of them. This week they returned with more Messiaen, his Poèmes pour Mi. The nine movements of this 1936 song cycle â named for Messiaenâs wife Claire Delbos, whose nickname was Mi and who is personified in the central song, The Bride â were framed by two works of five songs each: Wagnerâs Wesendonck Lieder and Barberâs Despite and Still. Messiaen would have loved the symmetry.