The final program of the Santa Rosa Symphony’s 2008-09 season will feature three sections from the Turangalîla Symphony by Olivier Messiaen, whose birth centenary fell in December 2008. Soloists in the Messiaen movements—“Turangalîla,” “Chant d’amour,” and “Joie du sange des étoiles”—will be pianist Miles Graber on piano and Mary Chun on ondes Martenot, the electronic instrument developed in 1928 that Messiaen used in several of his compositions. During the May concerts at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa, California, Music Director Bruno Ferrandis will also lead the orchestra in Ravel’s Piano Concerto, with soloist Cecile Licad, and excerpts from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Robert Winter, a professor of music and interactive arts at UCLA, will speak about the Turangalîla Symphony, tying together historical connections between Messiaen, Wagner, and Ravel. Maestro Ferrandis will give a pre-concert talk with a Q&A session one hour before each performance.
Posted April 17, 2009
