OLIVIER MESSIAEN

The Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra join forces with pianist Yuja Wang and release their album which features a stunning rendition of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphony. The recording, captured at Boston’s Symphony Hall in April 2024, celebrates the 75th anniversary of the work’s premiere given by the BSO and Leonard Bernstein on 2 December 1949. Most notably, it was originally commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra itself via their pioneering music director, Serge Koussevitsky, who gave Messiaen free rein by telling him, “choose as many instruments as you desire, write a work as long as you wish and in the style you want.” Resulting from the instruction was this extraordinary, 10-movement symphony for large orchestra – including a vast array of percussion – with solo piano and ondes martenot (an early electronic instrument). 

The album is released digitally, with a physical CD release to follow in 2025.