Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony [Steven Osborne/ Cynthia Millar/ Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Juanjo Mena] [Hyperion: CDA67816]

This new recording of Messiaen's masterpiece has superb clarity and scintillating orchestral colour, as if you had stepped right into the middle of a Chagall painting. The ondes martenot is quite audible in the gigantic sound, as is Steven Osborne's commanding playing of the solo piano part. The notes are very interesting on how the work came into being, and how it took far longer than anticipated, arising out of a commission by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky. It comes across in this recording as a work of great originality that still sounds quite startling, with its amazing day-glo colours and very broad canvas, like a mural that covers a whole block ... Juanjo Mena draws brilliant performances from the Bergen players and it seems to be quite a feat from the Hyperion engineers too, showing that they can embrace a gargantuan orchestra just as well as the smaller scale works they have tended to focus on.

There are now many versions of this piece available and previously my favourite, was the high energy of Chailly : Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony. But each new orchestral recording from Hyperion this year has been very impressive and this continues the trend.

Of course this requires a large and virtuosic orchestra to carry it off and there is the main problem for any recording. There is so much going on and often at high volume, that it is difficult to capture it all. But I think Hyperion have succeeded in bringing out more colours and timbres than any previous recording.

We have the large percussion section with thunderous bass drum, massive gong sounds and a huge variety of choppy wooden and metal instruments - all with varying sound envelopes and textures. Add in the concertante piano part, large brass section and sub-divided strings and you can see why previous recordings have often resulted in a blurring of the sound.

The controversy around the Ondes Martenot may put some people off this recording. It has never been heard so prominently before and really stands out, in all its other-worldly glamour. Some people think that it should be blended with the strings and just sit in the background - if you are in that camp, then best look for other recordings. Here the full sound is to the fore and timbres come across that just weren't there in previous versions - especially in its bass register. Other recordings have captured the Ondes Martenot as a thin, reedy sound - but here it shakes the floor with bass, like a low organ pipe, and dominates in the loud movements.

Overall then, we have a hugely exciting recording that captures everything and provides us with sounds that just haven't been there before. The soloists are excellent and addd immensely to the performance, which becomes almost like a double concerto. Juanjo Mena finds hidden depths and keep the piece driving forwards. I have only one slight criticism, in that I would have liked the final climax to last longer and be more overwhelming - as it is in the Chailly recording - but really this is a small point in such a fantastic addition to the list of Turangalila Symphonies on record. This is a real contender for best ever recording - especially if you like the Ondes Martenot to be up front. Highly recommended.