Yutaka Sado / Tonkünstler Orchester OLIVIER MESSIAEN Turangalîla

The composer Olivier Messiaen’s approximate definition of the ancient Indian word «Turangalîla» was «at once love song, hymn to joy, time, movement, rhythm, life and death». He was a mystic of ecstasy, who could hear colours and see sounds; an ornithologist who set birds’ songs of praise to music; an avant-garde pioneer who was the first to make serial music possible; a Catholic inspired by unshakeable faith; a gifted teacher – and his works dazzle just like his artistic personality. This connects him with Leonard Bernstein, the lodestar of the Tonkunstler Orchestra in 2017-18. What more powerful and thrilling opening to the season, then, than Messiaen’s «Turangalîla» Symphony, whose premiere Bernstein conducted in Boston in 1949? Music Director Yutaka Sado, once Bernstein’s student, and the Tonkunstler Orchestra will stage this monumental love song, one of the most important as well as popular works of the 20th century, a hymn to music and the loving human heart.

Angela Hewitt / Valérie Hartmann-Claverie / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie

With the growing number of performances and recordings, Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-symphonie has become his best-known orchestral work and something of a hit, if such an expansive and influential work can be narrowly categorized as such. Cast in ten movements for piano, ondes Martenot (an instrument similar to the theremin), and large orchestra, with many recurring themes and motives, Turangalîla-symphonie is a cyclic meditation inspired by Indian mysticism, as suggested by the composite title, which Messiaen translated as, "All at the same time song of love, hymn to joy, time, movement, rhythm, life, and death." This performance by Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, featuring Angela Hewitt on piano and Valérie Hartmann-Claverie on ondes Martenot, is an excellent presentation, full of vibrant sonorities and vigorous playing, all captured in Ondine's spacious multichannel recording. The hybrid SACD format offers the best way to appreciate Turangalîla, because the massive orchestra should be heard with all its parts distinctly separated, rather than as a thick, homogenous mass, and this recording brings great clarity to all the moving parts. But even more important than the internal details are the shockingly vivid tone colors, which are among the most exciting in 20th century orchestral music. In this area, Lintu draws out the most sharply defined sounds, and pays special attention to Messiaen's lush string and wind textures and sharply accented percussion. Highly recommended to newcomers and Messiaen aficionados alike. (Blair Sanderson)