Catalogue d’Oiseaux is dedicated to the pianist Yvonne Loriod, who eventually became Messiaen’s wife. They met in the early 1940s, when Loriod was one of Messiaen’s composition students.

Yvonne Loriod was not only an incredible performer of the music of her time, but also Olivier Messiaen's muse, the one in whom and for whom he found the natural and concrete extension of his art ...

Our extended reviews coverage assesses a full range of recent piano releases, from a retrospective of Yvonne Loriod’s legacy on record to new solo and concerto albums, including Nigel Simeone’s ...

My books include The Messiaen Companion (Fabers), and Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Cambridge University Press). The invitation from Messiaen’s widow, Yvonne Loriod, to research in the private ...