Almost 70 years after its premiere, performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie are still rare in Australia. By my count, there have been about five – in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – several conducted by Simone Young.

Over her illustrious career, Young has made Messiaen’s sprawling, gargantuan mammoth one of her signature pieces. She conducted it at her inaugural concert with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in 2005, a performance which, according to one commentator “ignited fireworks full of colour and passion”.

Those same qualities ignited the performance of Turangalîla in Melbourne last night. For this, Young directed an orchestra of around 120 players comprising members of the Australian World Orchestra and young players from the Australian National Academy of Music. It was thrilling to see ANAM youngsters sitting alongside some of the world’s leading players; in the trombone section, for instance, young Sung Kyu (Pius) Choi sat next to Michael Mulcachy, principal trombone of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

^{Jacob Abela, Simone Young, Timothy Young, the Australian World Orchestra and students from the Australian National Academy of Music. Photo: supplied.}

In just on 80 minutes, Messiaen leads his orchestra on a wild ride,...