University of York Symphony Orchestra @ Central Hall - 9/3/2011

As part of this year’s concert series and a term’s worth of hard work, the University Symphony Orchestra presented the only performance of Messaien’s Turangalîla-Symphonie in the UK during the 2010-2011 season on Wednesday, an added novelty that made this magnificent work well-worth seeing.

The music department’s very own Gamelan Sekar Petak opened the concert with the 25-minute Introduction au Gamelang, a four part showcase of both traditional Javanese and Balinese music, incorporating direct references to Messaien’s work, and its large tuned percussion section. The gamelan seemed an extremely appropriate choice to precede the orchestra, further enabling the group to play to perhaps a wider audience than would otherwise be possible. On the whole, their offering was impressive, with all players seeming as one in their simultaneous concentration, weaving difficult cross rhythms and entries together flawlessly. The overall effect of the first half of this concert was to lull the audience into a relaxed state of transcendence and therefore a false sense of security.

However, this tranquil mood could not last past the interval – the strings kick off the symphony with a biting and energetic opening that sets the scene for the frantic mood that generally pervades the next 80 minutes. The sense of musicianship throughout these frequent fiendish passages was clear and impressive until the very end, though a special mention must go to the expansive percussion section that made the most of its time to shine. Due to the innovative twentieth-century ideas Messaien is expressing, channelled through the influence of Tristan and Isolde, the symphony can seem relentless which, while impressive to pull off, can start to feel rather samey even with such magnificent climaxes. Unfortunately, the contrasting sections such as the pastoral sixth movement were lacking in energy and perhaps could have moved a little faster in tempo to retain interest.

Both soloists – Joseph Houston on piano and Cynthia Millar on ondes Martenot – displayed impressive virtuosity on their respective instruments; the former, in particular, often risked stealing the show from the massive orchestra with his striking cadenzas and interjections. However, the ondes Martenot, though an exciting modern addition to the stage, was perhaps not always as easily heard as would be ideal, especially across the auditorium, though it was effective when adding an eerie and mysterious element to the overall timbre.

Though not a conventional symphony with ten movements, a greatly expanded orchestra and many unusual influences, the Turangalîla-Symphonie is an extremely emotive and interesting work that was brought across excellently by the University Symphony Orchestra; though not a perfect performance, it must certainly be one of this orchestra’s greatest achievements of recent years, providing a successful and worthy evening that will not be easy to forget.

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