Over 13 pieces divided into seven books, Messiaen painted a series of detailed and impressionistic tone poems that stretched the limits of possibility for expressionistic tonal pianism. This was facilitated by Messiaen’s second wife Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010), a pianist of extraordinary and formidable technique who accompanied Messiaen on many of his data-collecting field trips, and the Catalogue d’Oiseaux was composed for her. Many years later, while teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris, Loriod taught a young pianist named Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who subsequently developed a close relationship with Messiaen and became a leading interpreter of his piano music.

Aimard’s new recording, which he describes as “a grand hymn to nature” is characterised by clarity and precision, with nuanced attention to the voices of birds and their natural sonic competitors – to cite just one marvellous example, the frogs in La Rousserolle Effarvatte (The Reed Warbler)! The Super Audio sound is resonant and present and this sumptuous package – with liner notes that include Messiaen’s detailed annotations on all of the pieces – includes a bonus DVD interview with Aimard.