The Turangalîla discography is now so extensive that any addition needs to offer something distinctive. Recorded live in Mannheim, this newcomer has much going for it and not least, in Tamara Stefanovich, a pianist doing full justice to the intricacy of music whose tumultuous cadenza-like passages are rendered with assurance. More advantageously balanced than with Antoni Wit (11/00), Thomas Bloch brings out the fantasy but also spectral ambiguity of the writing for ondes martenot – never too unduly prominent as has latterly become the norm.

While not quite in the first league, the Mannheim forces respond with evident dexterity and incisiveness to Alexander Soddy’s alert direction in a well-conceived and cohesive reading, lacking the last degree of sensuousness in the two ‘Chants d’amour’ or malevolence in the three ‘Turangalîla’ movements, though with an airy rapture making this ‘Jardin du sommeil d’amour’ among the finest, and with the extensive thematic interplay of ‘Développement d’amour’ (rightly) made the audible culmination of the overall design. The remaining three movements are expertly done but lack the visceral impact such uninhibited music requires.

With its clear though slightly recessed sound (best played at a high volume) and annotations that are no more than adequate, this new release is preferable to Hannu Lintu’s bracing if uniform astringency and is at least the equal of Juanjo Mena, whose excitability frequently verges on overkill. Seiji Ozawa’s pioneering version remains the best option to hear Yvonne and Jeanne Loriod in their fabled partnership, with the sheer electricity of Simon Rattle (who revisited the piece in Berlin and will surely do so again in London) and rigorous while never inflexible accuracy of Kent Nagano still leading the field. Not quite a front runner, Soddy’s disciplined and cumulative approach is worth hearing and will likely prove one to live with.