CD OF THE WEEK

MESSIAEN EDITION  Yvonne Loriod (piano), Olivier Messiaen (organ), and many others  Warner Classics 2564 62162-2 (18 CDs)  ****

This 18-disc edition celebrates the work of Olivier Messiaen, France's greatest composer of the 20th century. It replicates the contents of Erato's 80th birthday edition of 1988 and rectifies that set's largest flaw by adding the Turangalîla-Symphonie in Kent Nagano's 2000 recording. There are gold-standard performances here. Yvonne Loriod, Messiaen's muse (and, later, second wife), is a virtually infallible guide in the major piano works. The excellent Marie-Claire Alain shares the burden on the organ with the composer, who is extraordinarily persuasive in the difficult territory of the Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte-Trinité. The orchestral works are conducted mainly by Marius Constant, sure in his grasp of Messiaenic grandeur, and Pierre Boulez.

Messiaen's world extends from an incense-like harmonic sweetness to an angular irregularity which helped trigger the mid-20th-century serial revolution, from a fantastical and fanatically detailed obsession with birdsong to an equally thorough engagement with his Catholic faith. Late works apart, the breadth of this representative selection serves him admirably. The booklet usefully includes a translation of the final CD's hour-long interview with the composer. www.warnerclassics.com