MUSIC
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2019
7:30 PM

Messiaen: Turangalila-Symphonie
Juilliard Orchestra
David Geffen Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Upper West Side, Manhattan

$30; $15 students
https://www.juilliard.edu/event/134031/david-robertson-conducts-juilliard-orchestra

It's hard to believe that when Leonard Bernstein premiered Messiaen's vast love letter to ancient Hindu music and erotic passion 70 years ago, the piece was considered vulgar and over-the-top.  Now, it just sounds . . . GREAT!  The unearthly sound of the ondes martenot adds another layer of exoticism over the already highly exotic harmonies and orchestration; the perfume hangs in air of the concert hall.  The splendid David Robertson conducts.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  The pan-Mediterranean Boulud Sud isn't anything like as exotic as the Turangalila.  But it's pretty exotic for that block.