A fascinating mixture of youthful and mature Messiaen...Messiaen was keen that there should be a sense of power in his music (not to be confused with volume), but, beautifully as it is played, this account of Et exspecto periodically pulls its punches. There is still much to admire, though, especially in the early works.

even though a recording cannot generate the shattering impact of live performance, Märkl and the Orchestre National de Lyon give the music plenty of expressive room, thereby underlining the beauty of its quiet birdsong and the universalism of its message.

Märkl and the Lyons orchestra tend to bring out more of the work's sobriety than its strangeness...It would be hard to sanitise this music completely, however, and the compelling way in which the rhythmic buoyancy of oriental dance comes into conjunction with Roman Catholic piety in the fourth movement is vividly conveyed.

These recordings...give us fine and resplendently recorded performances, but the tempos throughout portray Messiaen as a sleep-walking purveyor of hypnotic and grandiose visions. If this is the way you see Messiaen, then fine but the evidence is that the composer himself never intended this music to be given this sort of treatment.

Jun Märkl's performance is well paced and carefully shaped and balanced,