Cleveland Orchestra Performs Messiaen Symphony with “Tristan & Isolde” Theme

Wed 4/25@ 7:30PM

At this one-night-only Cleveland Orchestra concert, listeners will see an instrument on the Severance Hall stage rarely seen there: the ondes martenot. It’s an early electronic instrument, invented in the 1920s, that’s somewhat similar to the more familiar theremin, with distinctive wavering tones.

Obviously, not too many classical composers wrote for it, but 20th-century French composer Olivier Messiaen, who had a reputation for exploring sonic areas other composers didn’t (bird songs!), did. And he featured it in his Turangalîla symphony, which debuted in 1949.

The symphony was inspired by the myth of Tristan and Isolde, the subject of a Richard Wagner opera the orchestra is performing Sat 5/21Thu 5/26 and Sun 5/29. Consider this an intro, exploring another way that story can be approached musically.

Franz Welser-Möst will lead the orchestra and guest soloists, Jean-Yves Thbaudet on piano and Cynthia Millar, who has performed this symphony with orchestras around the world, on ondes martenot. Tickets are $21-$151.

clevelandorchestra

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106

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