What a curious yet compelling work Olivier Messiaen’s
Turangalîla-symphonie
is. Its scale and complexity should result in it being banished to
reference
books with brave concert promoters and record producers rarely risking the
huge
cost and effort involved in mounting a performance. Yet it belongs to that
small
blessed group of works whose very vastness tantalises and intrigues the
music-loving
public and performers alike. Other pieces in this cost-no-object elite
include
Mahler’s big choral symphonies and Stravinsky’s Rite of
Spring.
Indeed, the mention of Mahler is not as spurious or simply scale-related
as
one might imagine. Written just after World War II,
Turangalîla,
for all its modernistic approach to rhythm, harmony and structure in some
ways
also represents the glorious last hurrah of what might be termed the
super-symphony.
When the parameters of the CD were being quantified and agreed it has been
said
that Beethoven’s 9th Symphony was used as the single disc
template
- in many ways Turangalîla could have provided as good a
definition.
Certainly, since the advent of the compact disc this has been a
‘lucky’
work. It has attracted many of the star conductors, soloists and
orchestras
and has been used by recording companies as a kind of test of their
technical
virility. Aside from the version under consideration here I know three
others
well; Previn with Béroff and the LSO on EMI, Chailly with Thibaudet
and
the Concertgebouw on Decca and lastly Salonen with Crossley and the
Philharmonia
on Sony/CBS. To that list can be honourably added Rattle on EMI, Chung
(supervised
by the composer on DG), Tortelier on Chandos, Ozawa on RCA, Wit on Naxos
and
Nagano on Teldec for starters. The one glaring omission from this pantheon
is
Bernstein. This is surprising on two counts; he conducted the premiere and
the
piece, with its gloriously hedonistic, indeed romantic sound-world and
drivingly
dramatic climaxes would have suited Bernstein down to the ground. Perhaps
the
1960s and 1970s during Bernstein’s golden age in New York were not
the
years technically or commercially to ‘risk’ a recording.
So how does this new disc measure up? Simple answer; very well indeed.
Hyperion
has a reputation for excellence, although until recently they have not
been
a label renowned for discs of large orchestral works. Perhaps buoyed by
the
deserved success of their release of Havergal Brian’s Gothic
Symphony
in 2011, this is a triumph for all concerned. Conductor Juanjo Mena
impressed
recently with his debut disc with the BBCPO on Chandos. Likewise, the
Bergen
Philharmonic has been little short of revelatory whether playing
Stravinsky
or Grieg on BIS or Halvorsen on Chandos. Add two featured soloists steeped
in
performing Messiaen and it looks more and more like a sure-fire winner. As
I
said, this work has been lucky on disc and good though the new one is I am
not
sure that it displaces any of the other versions in my affections; matches
yes,
supplants …. I am not so sure. The reason for this is simple;
Turangalîla
sprawls itself across some eighty minutes with a profligacy of mood, style
and
music that makes any single ‘best-buy’ label seem rather
foolish.
Swings and roundabouts are very much order of the day with the different
versions
trading minuscule advantages. Not surprisingly the Hyperion disc is one of
the
best recorded. This is not just a case of the glorious sound captured in
the
excellent Grieghallen but also the artistic choices made by the production
team.
The terrifyingly complex layers of Messiaen’s orchestral textures
are
brilliantly handled. Steven Osborne’s superb handling of the
concertante
piano part is balanced to perfection - always audible, dominant when
necessary
but never overbearing. In fact exactly what the concertante
implies;
a musical first amongst equals. Subtler but perhaps even more skilful is
the
handling of the other ‘solo’ instrument - the ondes martenot
played
by Cynthia Millar. Unlike the piano, which often advances the musical
content
of the work, the ondes martenot has far more to do with the unique
timbral/textural
qualities of the piece. After all, it is an early monophonic electronic
instrument
and as such cannot contribute nearly as much to the harmonic or percussive
character
of the symphony. Other recordings are defeated by this simple concept
feeling
obliged to place the instrument in a solo perspective. The Hyperion team
judge
this to perfection placing Millar back within the ensemble allowing the
ondes
martenot to add a spectral aural halo. The orchestral playing is - as
implied
earlier - absolutely top rank and on this showing the Bergen players have
nothing
to fear in comparison to any of the other world class ensembles who have
recorded
this work. Mena - again helped by the clarity and richness of the Hyperion
recording
- shows an excellent ear for orchestral balance. I like very much the way
the
great brass monoliths that punctuate the score are balanced from the
bottom
up - the first only some 30 seconds into the work. He finds textures
throughout
that had quite escaped me before in particular relating this work to
Messiaen’s
great body of organ compositions. Likewise, the extended moments of still
rapture
are as well executed as I have ever heard them. If Mena gains with the
sounds
he generates, he fractionally loses on matters of tempo. I like
Chailly’s
more nervously motoric approach to the brisker movements - again the very
opening
provides a good example; the marvellous Concertgebouw all snap and bite
but
then let down by a balance which allows the - relatively - unimportant
piano
trills to overwhelm the aforementioned brass monolith. Again this is all a
matter
of degree - the only section I was relatively disappointed with in this
new
version was the famous central scherzo: Joie du sang des
étoiles.
Mena is the slowest of my four comparative versions at 6:42 and Salonen
the
fastest at 6:16. Not that it is simply a matter of velocity - the sense of
elemental
joy is key. Ever so slightly Mena bounces along in a perfectly merry but
rather
un-wild way. Previn is excellent - the ondes martenot too prominent though
-
with an unleashed LSO playing with less total control than their Norwegian
counterparts
but greater abandon. Chailly scores well in this movement although one
notices
that his piano is not nearly as well recorded as Osborne for Mena. Where
Mena
is without compare is in the sixth movement, which by virtue of its
near-central
position in the ten movement work and by being the longest of the ten
functions
as the emotional core. Titled Jardin du sommeil d'amour, Mena,
Osborne
et al are near perfection. They capture the timeless rapture, the
languor
and sensual delight of the movement quite brilliantly. For all the
‘big’
exciting moments in which Turangalîla abounds perhaps it is
most
impressive, most individual here. It is easy to forget the pointillist
sparseness
of much of the scoring and here again the plaudits must go to the Hyperion
team
for the skill with which, both technically and musically the music is made
to
cohere. The sheer tonal beauty of the playing is of especial note.
An excellent liner-note by Nigel Simeone highlights the mixed reception
the
work received at its premiere. It remains one of the last large-scale,
unashamedly
contemporary scores to have a place of any kind in the repertoire.
Messiaen
explored more contemplative paths on a similar scale with works such as
La
Transfiguration De Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ but it strikes
me
that this is his most successful fusion of aesthetic and theoretical all
bound
up in a score that is at heart romantic. As such it demands a place in the
collection
of anyone interested in orchestral music of the 20th Century.
That
being so - this new version has a very strong case for being one of the
finest
all-round versions, but at full price. In my ideal world I’d have
Chailly’s
athletic vigour, Previn’s abandon and Mena’s sense of
orchestral
texture and sensuous rapture coupled with Hyperion’s engineering and
production.
Nick Barnard
see also reviews by Dan
Morgan (July 2012 Recording of the Month) and John
Quinn (August 2012 Recording of the Month)
Steven Osborne (piano); Cynthia Millar (ondes martenot)