Label: DG
Catalog: 4777452
Format: CD Pierre-Laurent Aimard8 Préludes; Excerpts from: 4 Études de rythme; Catalogue d'oiseaux Gramophone Recording of the Month - November 2008
Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s tribute to Olivier Messiaen coincides with the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth on 10 December 2008 - A highlight of the Messiaen year.
Aimard has a strong personal connection to Messiaen: he studied piano with the composer’s wife Yvonne Loriod from the age of twelve and won the Messiaen Competition in 1973. He has been a champion of Messiaen’s music throughout his career, one of the few pianists to keep this repertoire alive in the concert hall and bring new admirers to it.
For this anniversary album, Aimard has selected the early 8 Préludes (1928–29), the tense Quatre Études de rythme (1949–50) and excerpts from the cycle Catalogue d’oiseaux (1956–58), showcasing the broad spectrum of Messiaen’s piano works
Aimard is widely acknowledged as being the preeminent interpreter of contemporary music with links to many of the greatest masters of our age, among them Boulez, Carter and Ligeti | 
Price: $15.98