Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie, Boston Symphony Orchestra (CD)

Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie features Yuja Wang, Cécile Lartigau, Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a major new recording of Olivier Messiaen’s exuberant 20th-century masterpiece. Released on Deutsche Grammophon, the performance celebrates the 75th anniversary of the work’s 1949 premiere, which was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein.

Scored for large orchestra, piano and ondes Martenot, Turangalîla-Symphonie is one of the most dazzling and sensuous works of the modern repertoire. Wang brings virtuosic brilliance to the formidable piano part, while Nelsons and the BSO draw out the score’s kaleidoscopic color, rhythmic vitality and ecstatic sweep. Recorded live in Boston and praised by critics on digital release, this long-awaited physical edition offers a vivid account of a landmark symphonic work.

"Whether adding the most delicate filigree to the symphony’s more reflective movements, providing virtuoso punctuation to the eighth or ending the joyous eruption of the work’s most notorious movement, [Wang's] contribution is impossible to take for granted." — The Guardian

Messaien Turangalîla Symphony
Yuja Wang piano
Cécile Lartigau ondes Martenot
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons conductor
April 2024, Symphony Hall, Boston

Discs: 1
Record Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: July 18, 2025