Toronto Symphony releases recording of Messiaen’s monumental “Turangalîla-Symphonie”

By Giorgio Koukl

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra decided to record Turangalîla-Symphonie, the only symphony of Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), with its new music director Gustavo Gimeno as a special event to mark its 100th anniversary. Besides an enormous symphonic apparatus, this powerful work also requires a piano soloist (Marc-André Hamelin) and an ondes Martenot player (Nathalie Forget).