Six Saturdays with Messiaen

I went to the sixth Saturday, yesterday at the Saint Thomas church on 53rd. I know very little about composer Olivier Messiaen's work, but the performance was exciting on account of the venue alone. There was a lovely display of the elderly in attendance, and Messiaen's complex harmonies did not seem lost on them. Some portions felt very dissonant, and at one point a young boy several pews up banged his hands on his ears repeatedly. The cathedral was massive, as was the organ, and despite the length of the performance I felt filled the entire time. How will this compare with recordings I wonder?