The aural testing of the reimagined Alice Tully Hall continued last night with a terrific performance of Messiaen's vast Des Canyons aux Étoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars), with the Juilliard Orchestra led by David Robertson. Although inspired by Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, Messiaen's colors are so iridescent they almost seem artificial. Using a medium-sized ensemble—winds, brass and just 13 strings, with a disproportionate percussion contingent—the composer here seems positively drunk on his beloved bird songs. In the twelve movements, entire sections are devoted to mimicking the oriole, the mockingbird, the white-browed robin and the wood thrush.
And despite the rafts of low brass, the composer really loves the ensemble's high frequencies. Piccolos shriek, pianists are often at the far right end of the keyboard, and the percussion section seems packed with piercing, fluorescent timbres. Mary Norcross got a huge ovation at the end for her horn solo in "Appel interstellaire"("Interstellar Call"), and percussionists Alexander Lipowski and Robert Knopper (on on xylorimba and glockenspiel) had some of the evening's most glittering moments. Two pianists shared the formidable keyboard duties: Conor Hanick and Matthew Odell, who were so memorable one year ago in the same work, with Jeffrey Milarsky and the AXIOM Ensemble.
Robertson, who last year brought a magnificently detailed Turangalîla-Symphonie to Carnegie Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, seems to be very inside Messiaen's esthetic. Last night the Juilliard ensemble sounded stellar, and the packed Tully audience seemed to agree.
[Photo: wood thrush from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]