A Turangalîla Fest at the South Bank

[P. G. Tipps]

Petrushka - we were both there! Messian and Loriod signed my score afterwards :)

Sadly, I wasn't there ...

However, I was there (the FTH) on Thursday 27th April, 1989 for the Messiaen 80th Anniversary Concert and have still got the Programme (minus any autographs )!.

The Halle was conducted by Serge Baudo and the soloists were Jeanne Loriod & Pierre-Laurent Aimard. I don't remember the composer being in attendance, probably because his health wasn't too good then. My everlasting memory of that concert was having to leave the hall in disgrace half-way through due to an over-full bladder. I had foolishly consumed two pints of Boddington's Beer in Cox's Bar before the concert in order to kill a bit of time after work. Worse, I exited through an emergency-exit passageway so, finding a dead-end with no toilet, I had to re-enter the hall and tip-toe towards the correct door in full view of just about everyone in the hall.

Fortunately for what remained of my, by now, grossly-tarnished street-cred, I managed to creep back into the hall relatively unnoticed and perch on one of the fold-up seats at the back of the stalls. Suitably and deservedly humbled, I've never made that stupid mistake with the Turangalîla or the almost equally monumental likes of a Bruckner/Mahler/Shostakovich symphony ever again.

The Programme states that this was the first performance of the T. 'at these concerts' since 11th Jan. 1968 so I assume the 1978 performance was by the BBC Phil (or whatever it was called then)?

[Stanfordian]

I heard Turangalila in the old Free Trade Hall in Manchester on Feb 21 1978 and had the great good fortune to meet Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod after the performance. Tristan Murail was playing the ondes martenot and I don't recall any problems with hearing it on that occasion.

Hiya Petrushka,

This is the Bridgewater Hall not the Free Trade Hall. I notice on the 'listen again' radio coverage of the live perfromance the volume of the ondes martenot was much louder than in the hall.

[Petrushka]

I assume the 1978 performance was by the BBC Phil (or whatever it was called then)?

Yes, it was the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in those days and it was conducted by Gilbert Amy with Yvonne Loriod at the piano and Tristan Murail playing the ondes.

The first half featured the BBC Northern Singers (what happened to them?) singing Poulenc Mass in G and Sept Chansons. I have to confess that I've never heard the Poulenc items since. Can someone recommend a good CD?