Turangalîla: Infinite Love

A symphony. A movie. A trip. An explosion of love in cosmic dimensions, 1940s Hollywood glamour and an intoxicating world of images oscillating between surreal animation and silent film. In Turangalîla: Infinite Love Olivier Messiaen’s overwhelming symphony is confronted with the unmistakable visual imagination of the London artist collective 1927 Studios.

First performed in Boston in 1949, the Turangalîla Symphony, by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, still seems to come from another planet. Ecstatic rhythms, glittering impressionistic colours and echoes of the sound world of the Javanese gamelan are met with the concentrated power of a huge orchestra. And then there is a virtuoso piano part and the floating, futuristic sounds of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument.

For this production 1927 Studios have developed handmade film animations and action scenes that give the work a fascinating new dimension. Inspired by the golden age of silent cinema, the visual language combines grotesque humour, surreal transformations and the sparkle of old Hollywood into a self-contained film fantasy. The images don’t simply illustrate the music but enter with it into a shared momentum.

A cosmic love-fantasy, an orchestral ecstasy, a cinematic rapture: Infinite Love.

… and afterwards, the Infinite Love Club in the Leibniz Saal. What’s behind this? A little love, a little mystery – details to follow. Stay tuned.