A new piece by Steve Reich, arguably New York City’s most distinguished composer, is always a major event. Reich grandfathered an entire school of musical thought with his twittery repetitions and seething tones, and 2006’s Daniel Variations is a major addition to his expansive and important catalog: a perfect blend of the composer’s urban punchiness and meditative surge.

Reich sets words from Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter murdered in Pakistan in 2002, and the Book of Daniel, selecting a single sentence for each of four movements on which to hang his musical volumes. The work is symphonic in scope, but a flat recording of the Los Angeles Master Chorale makes this merely an acceptable document for those willing to listen through slightly muddled sonics.

The real star of this disc is Alan Pierson, a superbly gifted young conductor and perhaps Reich’s greatest living advocate, who draws from the London Sinfonietta a rangy, nuanced performance of the stunning 2005 Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. Rather than relying on built-in momentum, Pierson sculpts and shapes. He expertly emphasizes dramatic harmonic and textural shifts, making them terrifying, evanescent or jaunty depending on the moment. More than just about anyone around, Pierson knows how to bring this rich, colorful music to life.