Search for a composer connecting George Benjamin to Tristan Murail, and look no further than Olivier Messiaen, who taught the two of them. But on this very fine recording of major works by both, taken live from the Herkulessaal in 2012 and without much bronchial interference, György Ligeti is the reference, the context of choice. His Lontano (1967) acts as overture. Benjamin leads a superlative performance, one surprisingly visceral for a piece about distance... Benjamin’s own Palimpsests (1998-2002) come off well, too, and again the Bavarians’ playing is special... The titles of Lontano and Palimpsests point to something in the music; if the same is true of Murail’s Le désenchantement du monde (2011/12), a reference to Max Weber, it escapes me. In this ‘concerto symphonique’ for piano, Murail turns away from explicit spectralism, though the alternately placid and volcanic result still dwells on the nature and properties of sound. Pierre-Laurent Aimard is as strong an advocate as always, and Murail devotees should not hesitate, but the Ligeti and Benjamin are the thing here.