28th May, 2015
Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom
DEBUSSY Syrinx
DEBUSSY La damoiselle élue
MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie
Samuel Coles (flute)
Sophie Bevan (soprano)
Anna Stéphany (mezzo soprano)
Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)
Valérie Hartmann-Claverie (ondes Martenot)
Philharmonia Voices (Ladies)
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)
Sex. Just sex. There is no piece in the classical repertoire quite like Messiaen's "Turangalîla-Symphonie", which is a 75-min, 10-movement work for solo piano, huge orchestra which calls for 11 percussionists and an electronic instrument called ondes Martenot (top two pictures), written to celebrate erotic love. I have a love-hate relationship with this piece. It was the piece that showed me all sorts of sonic possibilities in classical music and opened the doors of contemporary music for me when I was about 15. When I grew older, however, the piece became too blatant, vulgar and downright pornographic for my taste - I mean, one can't take the piece seriously when one realises the sliding strings followed by cymbals clashing in the "Finale" sound a bit like orgasm. Now, it is a bit like fast food - I can have a dose of it for quick thrills every now and then. After all these years, I am still a bit baffled by how a devout Catholic like Messiaen wrote such suggestive music charged by naughty harmonies, and why "Development of Love" (Movement 8) comes after the sex in "Joy of the Blood of the Stars" (Movement 5) (makes it more ironic that the opening piece tonight was "Syrinx", a mythological nymph known for her chastity, by Debussy of all people). The Philharmonia under Esa-Pekka Salonen played the work with such fabulous transparency that made it very refreshing, though the brass overpowered the strings and he was unreserved and relentless about the energy of the piece that left little breathing space for the more serene moments like the post-coital cuddling in "Garden of Love's Sleep" (Movement 6) and the percussion extravaganza that is "Turangalîla 3" (Movement 9). It was great to hear the old Pierre-Laurent Aimard sound again, with the punch, spike and fire that have been absent in his recent recordings. The cadenzas of "Chant d'amore 1 & 2" were particularly remarkable. My first RFH concert 14 years ago was Aimard doing "Turangalîla" with Nagano, and the hall was 80% empty with the audience looking totally bored. Today the full house erupted with joy. I guess it had something to do with that triumphant, otherworldly and cosmic expansion-like F# major chord.
This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.
