Introduction
Described by The Observer [July 2018] as the “unchallenged sovereign of the Ondes Martenot”, Cynthia Millar’s most recent performances include concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Nashville Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. The 2019-20 season saw a debut with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, as well as return visits to the Orchestre National de Lyon and Orchestre de Paris.
In 2016 Cynthia premiered the Ondes Martenot part specially written for her by Thomas Adès in his opera The Exterminating Angel at the Salzburg Festival, and subsequently at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Danish Opera in March 2018. The 2016-17 season also saw her take part in a ten-concert tour of the Turangalîla Symphonie with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel, beginning in Caracas and culminating in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, New York.
Cynthia Millar studied the Ondes Martenot with John Morton in England and Jeanne Loriod in France. Since her first performance of the Turangalîla Symphonie at the 1986 BBC Proms with the National Youth Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder, she has played this piece around 200 times with some of the world’s leading conductors including Simon Rattle, Saraki Oramo, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst, Paavo Järvi, Susanna Mälkki, Andrew Davis and Mariss Jansons.
Cynthia has recorded Turangalîla with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra for Juanjo Mena; and the Trois petites liturgies with the Seattle Symphony for Ludovic Morlot and the London Sinfonietta for Terry Edwards. She has played in well over 100 film and television scores and has written music for film, television and theatre, including scores for Robert Wise, Arthur Penn, Martha Coolidge and Peter Yates.
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Press
- More info 25 Mar 19 Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Auckland Town Hall
Cynthia Millar’s virtuosic ondes Martenot playing was full of different sounds and textures. From its entry with the piano in the first movement this exotic instrument added an ethereal edge to the music. […] when merged with the circling and shimmering harmonies of the 6th movement, Jardin du sommeil d’amour, it produced the sense of timelessness and transcendence that the work is about.
Peter Hoar, Radio NZ, 25 Mar 19
“Messiaen’s high-voltage first movement featured MacGregor’s coruscating keyboard, sci-fi whoops from Millar’s electronic instrument and a hulking brass theme that might have strayed from Mussorgsky’s art gallery.”
- More info 18 Jan 19 Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie LA Philharmonic Walt Disney Concert Hall
“Cynthia Millar’s ondes martenot helped come as close to sonic pornography as the composer clearly desired.”
- More info 18 Jul 18 Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie BBC Symphony Orchestra Royal Albert Hall, BBC Proms
“Cynthia Millar, unchallenged sovereign of the ondes martenot, provided whooping, sensuous caresses.”
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, July 22 2018
“The Ondes Martenot alone, handled with exquisite care by Cynthia Millar, adds its own mysterious, ethereal, almost alien ambience.”
Olivia Bell, bachtrack, July 20 2018
“…the Ondes Martenot, played with expert finesse by Cynthia Millar.”
- More info 31 Jul 17 Adès The Exterminating Angel Royal Opera House
“Cynthia Millar’s Ondes Martenot insinuates its way into every aspect of this colourful score, perhaps playing the part of the exterminating angel itself.”
Opera Magazine, July 2017
“A new sound for Adès is that of the ondes martenot, played by no less than Cynthia Millar, its pure-toned electronic swoops adding a B-movie sci-fi feel […]”
Guardian, April 2017
- More info 24 May 17 Messiaen Turangalîla Symphonie BBC Symphony Orchestra Barbican Hall, London
“No doubting the fabulous playing of Steven Osborne… and the mastery of the Ondes by Cynthia Millar”
Colin Anderson, Classical Source, May 24 2017
- More info 06 Jan 17 Messiaen Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine Seattle Symphony Benaroya Hall
“Adding a sense of giddy joy to the texture were the swoops and whistles from the Ondes Martenot, played by Cynthia Millar, a renowned virtuosa”
- More info 31 Aug 16 Adès The Exterminating Angel Salzburg Festival
“Cynthia Millar’s playing of the ondes was so acutely expressive that she might have taken a bow with the singers.”
The New Yorker, August 2016
“[…] the odd sound of the ondes martenot (Cynthia Millar, another welcome star “vocalist”) suggest the invisible angel of the alluring title”
The Arts Desk, August 2016
“Hovering above all, making ghostly, whooping and poetic interjections, is that electronic wonder instrument beloved of Messian, the ondes martenot, played by the world’s leading player, Cynthia Millar.”
The Observer, July 2016
- More info 18 Jan 16 Messiaen Turangalîla Symphonie Simón Bolivar Orchestra Royal Festival Hall
“It is a tribute to Cynthia Millar’s skill as a performer on her idiosyncratic electronic ondes martenot instrument that the sounds emanating from it made a telling effect in the ensemble without dominating it to the unwanted degree heard in some other performances. She also made a notable contribution to the overall success of the performance, of which there were so many and consistent highlights that any specific references are unnecessary.”
Seen and Heard International, January 2016
“Also featured front-of-stage was Messiaen’s signature instrument, the ondes martenot, which was played with delicious engagement by Cynthia Millar.”
Musicomh.com, January 2016
“A chamber-like passage opened the third movement too, with a charming but eerie duet between clarinet and Cynthia Millar on ondes martenot. The ondes martenot is a curious addition by Messiaen, and Millar’s playing brought a fascinating other element to the orchestral sound. Its electronic sound was otherworldly, yet it blended seamlessly in with the strings, giving the section an unfamiliar edge.”
Classical Discourse, January 2016
Repertoire
ADÈS The Exterminating Angel
BENNETT (RICHARD RODNEY) Ophelia (Cantata) (1987)
HONEGGER Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher
MESSIAEN Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine
MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie
VARÈSE Ecuatorial
Discography
- More info The Exterminating Angel
Label: Erato Records
Release Date: 22 Feb 19
ADÈS The Exterminating Angel
Conductor: Thomas Adès
Libretto: Tom Cairns
Production: Tom CairnsOndes Martenot: Cynthia Millar
Piano: Dimitri Dover
Guitar: Michael Kudirka
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and ChorusCast
Leticia Maynar – Audrey Luna
Lucía de Nobile – Amanda Echalaz
Silvia de Ávila – Sally Matthews
Beatriz – Sophie Bevan
Leonora Palma – Alice Coote
Blanca Delgado – Christine Rice
Francisco de Ávila – Iestyn Davies
Edmundo de Nobile – Joseph Kaiser
Raúl Yebenes – Frédéric Antoun
Eduardo – David Portillo
Colonel Álvaro Gómez – David Adam Moore
Alberto Roc – Rod Gilfry
Señor Russell – Kevin Burdette
Julio – Christian Van Horn
Doctor Carlos Conde – John Tomlinson - More info MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie
- More info MESSIAEN Poèmes Pour Mi; Trois Petites Liturgies De La Présence Divine
- More info MESSIAEN Trois Petites Liturgies De La Présence Divine