Philharmonia Orchestra

I went to see the performance of Turangalila at the Royal Festival Hall last Thursday and was completely blown away by it. A friend of mine who really knows his classical music (I'm more basic understanding level/very rusty) had been telling me how exciting the Messiaen festival was going to be since the summer and although I'd never heard any of Messiaen's music (or indeed heard of him) before, I became quite intrigued. Jim recommended Turangalila as a good bet for a beginner level of appreciation so I thought I'd give it a go.

It was absolutely amazing on so many levels. A whole new world of instruments was revealed to me: the ondes martenot was fantastic; the use of the wood block - at first when I saw the musician sat in front of that small and simple instrument I was a bit sceptical about how seriously I could take him, but actually he was one of the stars of the show for me.

The conductor was on fire - completely inspirational and you could really sense his impact and part in the proceedings.

The pianist Aimard was brilliant. He really nailed the middle bit of the piece - almost went flying off the piano stool with energy. I felt privileged to be in the audience watching him.

Great stuff. I'm definitely getting hold of a copy of this piece to put on my mp3 player. And will be looking into what to see next in the festival.