Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du Temps

An excellent recording of the Quartet for the End of Time, Messiaen’s essay on the apocalypse in written while he was a prisoner of war. The piece runs through Messiaen’s many languages — violent fire and brimstone, birdsong, and a breathless, sustained lyricism that is his image of eternity. All-stars are at work here: Shaham, Chung, and Wang, who especially rises to the occasion in the fifth and ninth movements.