Boulez on CD

By Sedgwick Clark

Pierre Boulez turned 90 last week, on March 26. At first he struck fear in the ears of traditional concertgoers. But by his eighties he was hailed as a grand old man of music, in demand by all the major orchestras of the world. Fortunately, Boulez’s performing career is well documented, and his recording companies have celebrated his birthday in rare form with several box sets that include nearly his entire recorded output.

Boulez the Enfant Terrible. He revealed the lineage of 20th-century composition like no one else. His earliest recordings, dating from 1958-67, are with Domaine Musical, the French ensemble he formed in 1954. Works by Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Varèse, Messiaen, Stravinsky, and his own music (including two recordings of Le Marteau sans Maître) dominate the recorded Domaine repertoire. A smattering of his modernist contemporaries, Pousseur, Stockhausen, Berio, Henze, Cage, and others are included. Also included is a performance of Stravinsky’s Agon, with Hans Rosbaud conducting the Orchestre du Sudwestfunk, Baden-Baden. Deutsche Grammophon has handily gathered all these recordings on a 10-CD set, allowing us to jettison our crackly budget LPs at last.

The New York Philharmonic Years. Columbia Records signed Boulez in 1967 to record 20th-century repertoire, which is now all available on Sony Classical on a 67-CD set, primarily performed by the New York Philharmonic and London’s BBC Symphony. Boulez felt that before audiences could understand the music of the present, they must be conversant with contemporary composers’ historical forebears. Hence, these recordings concentrate on the works of Debussy, Ravel, Bartók, Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, Varèse, and Stravinsky; several of Boulez’s own works and Luciano Berio’s are included as well. Sony missed an opportunity, however, to include a never-before-released Boulez recording of Debussy’s Symphonic Fragments from The Martyrdom of St. Sebastien. Unedited tapes of a New York Philharmonic studio recording lie fallow in Sony’s icebox, never released for lack of an LP discmate; I recall the live performance as luminous. Sony’s CD reissues back in the ’80s by George Kadar were not transferred from the original analogue master tapes and betrayed light hiss levels that could have been avoided. Sony’s p.r. release for the box set claims that the recordings were mastered from original sources. I’m skeptical, but I’ll suspend judgment until I’ve heard the box set.

Warner’s Erato Set. Boulez’s departure as music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1977 for Paris to head up the contemporary-music organization IRCAM effectively ended his Columbia contract. The French label Erato stepped in during the 1980s to fill gaps in the conductor’s discography by Stravinsky (Pulcinella, Le Rossignol, L’Histoire du soldat), Schoenberg (Violin and Piano Concertos), and several important Boulez works—all now available in a 14-CD box released by Warner Classics. Perhaps one of these days Warner will also reissue Boulez’s early-1970s EMI recordings of Bartók’s Piano Concerto Nos. 1 and 3 with Daniel Barenboim and Berg’s Violin Concerto and the two Bartók Violin Rhapsodies with Yehudi Menuhin.

DG’s Class Act. In 1990, Deutsche Grammophon signed the composer/conductor to undoubtedly the most fruitful of his recording contracts. DG pulled out all the stops for Boulez, enlisting the Chicago Symphony for Bartók and Stravinsky, the Berlin Philharmonic for Ravel and Webern, the Cleveland Orchestra for Debussy and Stravinsky, the Vienna Philharmonic and Cleveland for Mahler’s symphonies and the song cycles, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain for his own works and those by Ligeti and Birtwistle. The Columbia recordings were very impressive for their revelation of Boulez’s incredible ear for detail, but I well recall being blown sideways by DG’s addition of spectacular digital sonics and Rolls Royce orchestras. I’m still amazed.

Not all the works recorded by the New York and BBC orchestras on Columbia in the late 1960s and ’70s were re-recorded by DG. Boulez never got around to re-doing Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, for example, but he did re-record a superb Moses und Aron with none other than the Royal Concertgebouw! Thus, Boulez fans will need all these commemorative sets on their shelves.

DG has also released an elegantly designed seven-CD set of all of Boulez’s music, which includes the Erato recordings of Boulez works that he never recorded for DG to make this set note-complete.

 

Domaine Musical recordings (1958-1967) on Deutsche Grammophon

 

CD 1: Le concert du 10è anniversaire

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007)

Kontra-Punkte Opus 1

Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical

 

Luciano Berio (1925 – 2003)

Serenata 1 Pour Flûte Et 14 Instruments

Severino Gazzelloni, Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical

 

Pierre Boulez (1925 – )

Le Marteau sans Maître

Jeanne Deroubaix, Solistes du Domaine Musical, Pierre Boulez

 

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992)

Oiseaux Exotiques

Yvonne Loriod, Rudolf Albert, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

Total CD Playing Time: 1:07:47    

 

CD 2: Les références françaises

Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)

Syrinx Pour Flûte Seule 

 

Edgar Varèse (1885 – 1965)

Densité 21, 5, Pour Flûte Seule 

Severino Gazzelloni

 

Hyperprisme, Pour Petit Orchestre Et Percussions 

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Octandre 

Pierre Boulez, Jacques Castagner, Claude Maisonneuve, Guy Deplus, Marcel Naulais, André Rabot, André Fournier, Roger Delmotte, René Allain, Jacques Cazauran

 

Intégrales, Pour Petit Orchestre Et Percussion

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992)

Cantéyodjaya

Yvonne Loriod

 

Sept Haikai

Les Percussions De Strasbourg, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical, Pierre Boulez, Yvonne Loriod

Total CD Playing Time: 1:02:37    

 

CD 3: Le compositeur Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez (1925 – )

Structures, Livre 1 et 2 Pour 2 Pianos

Aloys Kontarsky, Alfons Kontarsky

 

Sonatine Pour Flûte Et Piano

Severino Gazzelloni, David Tudor

 

Piano Sonata No.2

Yvonne Loriod

Total CD Playing Time: 58:09    

 

CD 4: Les compagnons de route

Mauricio Kagel (1931 – 2008)

Sextuor à cordes

Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical

 

Luigi Nono (1924 – 1990)

Incontri, Pour 24 Instruments

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Hans Werner Henze (1926 – 2012)

Concerto Per Il Marigny

Yvonne Loriod, Rudolf Albert, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Henri Pousseur (1929-2009)

Madrigal III

Guy Deplus, Gérard Jarry, Michel Tournus, Jean-Charles Francoise, Diego Masson, Fabienne Boury

 

Mobiles, Pour 2 Pianos

Aloys Kontarsky, Alfons Kontarsky

 

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007)

Zeitmasse, Op.5

Jacques Castagner, Claude Maisonneuve, Paul Taillefer, Guy Deplus, André Rabot

 

Klavierstück VI, Op.4/II

David Tudor

Total CD Playing Time: 1:12:45    

 

CD 5: Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)

Concertino pour 12 instruments

Pierre Boulez, Jacques Parrenin, Pierre Penassou, Jacques Castagner, Claude Maisonneuve, Paul Taillefer, Guy Deplus, André Rabot, Jean-Pierre Laroque, Pierre Pollin, Jacques Lecointre, René Allain, Maurice Suzan

 

Three Pieces for solo Clarinet

Guy Deplus

 

3 Pieces for String Quartet

Quatuor Parrenin, Jacques Parrenin, Jacques Ghestem, Michel Wales, Pierre Penassou

 

Symphonies d’instruments à vent

Orchestre Du Domaine Musical, Pierre Boulez

 

Renard

Pierre Boulez, Jean Giraudeau, Louis Devos, Louis Jacques Rondeleux, Xavier Depraz, Elemer Kiss, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Agon – Ballet (1957)

Orchestre Du Sudwestfunk Baden-Baden, Hans Rosbaud

Total CD Playing Time: 1:01:39    

 

CD 6: L’école de Vienne I. De 1899 à 1912

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951)

Verklärte Nacht, Op.4 – Version for String Sextet

Jacques Parrenin, Marcel Charpentier, Denes Marton, Serge Collot, Pierre Penassou, Michel Tournus

 

Anton Webern (1883 – 1945)

Six pieces for orchestra, Op.6Original version (1909)

Orchestre Du Sudwestfunk Baden-Baden, Hans Rosbaud

 

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951)

Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra (1910)

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Pierrot Lunaire, Op.21 (1912)

Pierre Boulez, Helga Pilarczyk, Maria Bergmann, Jacques Castagner, Guy Deplus, Louis Montaigne, Luben Yordanoff, Serge Collot, Jean Huchot

Total CD Playing Time: 1:14:08    

 

CD 7: L’école de Vienne II. De 1906 à 1943

Alban Berg (1885 – 1935)

Sonate Pour Piano Op. 1

Yvonne Loriod

 

3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op.6 (Revised version of 1929)

Hans Rosbaud, Orchestre Du Sudwestfunk Baden-Baden

 

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951)

Kammersymphonie N° 1 Op.9

Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical

 

Anton Webern (1883 – 1945)

2 Songs op.8 for voice and eight instruments

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical, Jeanne Héricard

 

4 Songs op.13 for voice and orchestra

Jeanne Héricard, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical, Pierre Boulez

 

I. Kantate op.29 for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra

 

II. Kantate op.31 for soprano solo, bass solo, mixed chorus and orchestra

Chorale Elisabeth Brasseur Versailles, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical, Pierre Boulez, Ilona Steingruber, Xavier Depraz

Total CD Playing Time: 1:13:51    

 

CD 8: L’école de Vienne III. Le sérialisme

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951)

Serenade for Septet & Bass Voice, Op.24

Pierre Boulez, Guy Deplus, Louis Montaigne, Paul Grund, Paul Stingl, Luben Yordanoff, Serge Collot, Jean Huchot, Louis Jacques Rondeleux

 

Suite, Op.29

Pierre Boulez, Jacques Ghestem, Marcel Naulais, Guy Deplus, Louis Montaigne, Luben Yordanoff, Serge Collot, Jean Huchot

 

Anton Webern (1883 – 1945)

Variations for Piano, Op.27

Yvonne Loriod

 

Symphony, Op.21

Pierre Boulez, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

Total CD Playing Time: 1:10:06    

 

CD 9: IIIè concert – Saison 1956

Giovanni Gabrieli (1553 – 1612)

Canzon duodecimi toni a 8, No 5, C. 174

Canzon septimi toni à 8 (Sacrae symphoniae 1597, No.3)

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)

Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Rudolf Albert, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Hans Werner Henze (1926 – 2012)

Concerto Per Il Marigny

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992)

Oiseaux Exotiques

Yvonne Loriod, Rudolf Albert, Orchestre Du Domaine Musical

 

Jean-Claude Eloy (1938 – )

Equivalences

Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical, Les Percussions De Strasbourg

Total CD Playing Time: 46:56    

 

CD 10: Une histoire d’amitiés…

1. La genèse / [Le Domaine Musical]

2. Domaine musical, année zéro / [Le Domaine Musical]

3. Le répertoire / [Le Domaine Musical]

4. Les références / [Le Domaine Musical]

5. Les compagnons de route / [Le Domaine Musical]

6. Les interprètes / [Le Domaine Musical]

Pierre Boulez, Claude Samuel

 

Pierre Boulez (1925 – )

Le Marteau sans Maître

Pierre Boulez, Solistes du Domaine Musical, Marie-Thérèse Cahn

Total CD Playing Time: 1:19:30    

 

 

Pierre Boulez Recordings (1967-1977) on Sony Classical

DISC 1:
Berg: Wozzeck, Op. 7. From the drama by George Büchner (beginning)

DISC 2:
Berg: Wozzeck, Op. 7. From the drama by George Büchner (conclusion)

DISC 3:
Messiaen: Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum
Messiaen: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste

DISC 4:
Debussy: La Mer
Debussy: Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune
Debussy: Jeux

DISC 5:
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

DISC 6:
Berlioz: Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, Op. 14b

DISC 7:
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (Sz 106)
Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1910)

DISC 8:
Berg: Chamber Concerto for Violin, Piano & 13 Wind Instruments
Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
Berg: Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4

DISC 9:
Debussy: Images pour Orchestra
Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane

DISC 10:
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (original version)

DISC 11:
Mahler: Das klagende Lied

DISC 12:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
Beethoven: Cantata – “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,” Op. 112
Mahler: Symphony No. 10 – Adagio

DISC 13-15:
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande, Drame lyrique en 5 actes

DISC 16:
Boulez: Pli Selon Pli (“fold according to fold”)

DISC 17:
Debussy: Nocturnes
Debussy: Printemps
Debussy: Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Orchestra

DISC 18:
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
Ravel: Pavane Pour une Infante Défunte
Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole
Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso

DISC 19:
Stravinsky: Pétrouchka (1911 version)

DISC 20:
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19
Bartók: Dance Suite (Sz 77)

DISC 21:
Ravel: Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major

DISC 22:
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (excerpt)
Berlioz: Les Troyens (excerpt)
Berlioz: Beatrice et Benedict (excerpts)
Berlioz: Le Carnaval Romain, Op. 9 – Concert Overture

DISC 23:
Berg: Seven Early Songs
Berg: Wozzeck. Act III

DISC 24:
Ravel: Une Barque sur L’Océan
Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

DISC 25:
Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître
Boulez: Livre pour Cordes

DISC 26:
Wagner: Prelude to Act I from The Mastersingers of Nuremberg
Wagner: Tannhäuser and the Song Contest on the Wartburg Overture
Wagner: Faust Overture
Wagner: Prelude to Act I and Isoldes Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

DISC 27:
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

DISC 28:
Ravel: La Valse
Ravel: Menuet Antique
Ravel: Ma Mère L’oye
Ravel: Boléro

DISC 29-30:
Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder

DISC 31:
Handel: Water Music: Suite No.1 in F Major for Orchestra, HWV 348

DISC 32:
Stravinsky: The Firebird
Stravinsky: The Song of the Nightingale

DISC 33:
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé

DISC 34:
Berio: Nones
Berio: Allelujah II
Berio: Concerto for Two Pianos

DISC 35-36:
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron

DISC 37:
Falla: El sombrero de tres picos
Falla: Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin and Cello

DISC 38:
Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Op. 11 (Sz 48)

DISC 39:
Dukas: La Péri
Roussel: Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 42

DISC 40:
Bartók: The Wooden Prince, Op. 13 (Sz 60)

DISC 41:
Varèse: Amériques
Varèse: Ionisation
Varèse: Arcana

DISC 42:
Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7
Berlioz: La Mort de Cléopâtre

DISC 43:
Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
Stravinsky: Scherzo fantastique, Op. 3
Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments

DISC 44:
Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21

DISC 45: Wagner: Das Liebesmahl der Apostel
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

DISC 46:
Webern: Passacaglia for Orchestra, Op. 1
Webern: Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen, Op. 2
Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
Webern: Zwei Lieder für mittlere Stimme und acht Instrumente, Op. 8
Webern: Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 10
Webern: Vier Lieder für Sopran und Orchester, Op. 13
Webern: Sechs Lieder für Singstimme und vier Instrumente, Op. 14
Webern: Fünf geistliche Lieder für Sopran und fünf Instrumente, Op. 15
Webern: Fünf Canons nach lateinischen Texten für Sopran, Klarinette und Baßklarinette, Op. 16
Webern: Drei Volkstexte für Singstimme und drei Instrumente, Op. 17
Webern: Drei Lieder für Singstimme, Es-Klarinette und Gitarre, Op. 18
Webern: Zwei Lieder für gemischten Chor und fünf Instrumente, Op. 19
Webern: Symphony for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 21

DISC 47:
Webern: Quartet for Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Violin and Piano, Op. 22
Webern: Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Viola and Piano, Op. 24
Webern: Das Augenlicht für gemischten Chor und Orchester, Op. 26, Worte von Hildegard Jone
Webern: Cantata No. 1, Op. 29
Webern: Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30 (1940)
Webern: Cantata No. 2, Op. 31
Webern: Fünf Sätze für Streichquartett, Op. 5
Webern: Fuga No. 2 (Ricercata) a 6 voci from Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079, No. 5

DISC 48:
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (Version for String Orchestra, 1943)
Berg: Three Pieces from “Lyric Suite”

DISC 49:
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
Handel: Berenice, HWV 38
Handel: Concerto in F Major for 2 Wind Choirs and Strings, HWV 334

DISC 50:
Berg: Lulu – Suite
Berg: Der Wein

DISC 51:
Carter: Symphony of Three Orchestras
Carter: A Mirror On Which To Dwell – Six Poems Of Elizabeth Bishop

DISC 52:
Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46
Schoenberg: Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16
Schoenberg: Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, Op. 34

DISC 53:
Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
Mahler: Rückert Lieder

DISC 54:
Schoenberg: Serenade, Op. 24
Schoenberg: Lied der Waldtaube
Schoenberg: Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41

DISC 55:
Schoenberg: Die Jakobsleiter
Schoenberg: Erwartung, Op. 17
Schoenberg: Die glückliche Hand, Op. 18

DISC 56:
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38
Schoenberg: 3 Pieces for Chamber Orchestra
Schoenberg: Four Orchestral Songs, Op. 22

DISC 57:
Boulez: Eclat
Boulez: Multiples
Boulez: Rituel (In Memory of Bruno Maderna)

DISC 58:
Varèse: Equatorial
Varèse: Deserts
Varèse: Intégrales
Varèse: Hyperprism
Varèse: Octandre
Varèse: Offrandes
Varèse: Density 21.5

DISC 59:
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Ravel: Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
Ravel: Chansons madécasses
Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
Ravel: Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques

DISC 60:
Schoenberg: Suite for 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano, Op. 29
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4

DISC 61:
Berg: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (To the Memory of an Angel)
Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6

DISC 62:
Boulez: Le Marteau sans Maître
Boulez: II Notations Pour Piano
Boulez: III Structures Pour Deux Pianos, Livre II

DISC 63:
Schoenberg: Friede Auf Erden, Op. 13
Schoenberg: Kol Nidre, Op. 39
Schoenberg: Drei Volkslieder, Op. 49
Schoenberg: Zwei Kanons
Schoenberg: Drei Volkslieder
Schoenberg: Vier Stücke, Op. 27

DISC 64:
Schoenberg: Drei Satiren, Op. 28
Schoenberg: Sechs Stücke, Op. 35
Schoenberg: Dreimal Tausend Jahre, Op. 50A
Schoenberg: De Profundis, Op. 50 B (Psalm 130)
Schoenberg: Moderner Psalm, Op. 50 C

DISC 65:
Berio: IL Ritorno Degli Snovidenia per solo violoncello e piccolo orchestra (1976)
Berio: Chemins II (su/after “Sequenza VI”) (1967)
Berio: Chemins IV (su/after “Sequenza VII”) (1975)
Berio: Corale (su/after “Sequenza VIII”) (1981)
Berio: Points On The Curve To Find… for piano and 22 instrumentalists (1974)

DISC 66:
Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder
Berg: Fünf Orchesterlieder von Altenberg Op.4
Berg: Jugendlieder (Selections)
Berg: Zwei Lieder
Berg: Er klagt, dass der Frühling so kurz blüht from Jugendlieder (Excerpt)

DISC 67:
Scriabin: Symphony No. 4, Le Poeme de l’extase, Op. 54
Bartók: Four Pieces, Op. 12 (Sz 51)
Bartók: Three Village Scenes (Sz 79)
Stravinsky: Suite No. 1 pour petit orchestre
Stravinsky: Suite No. 2 pour petit orchestra

 

 

Pierre Boulez on Erato (1980-1990)

CD 1

Stravinsky: Pulcinella. Le Chant du Rossignol

CD 2

Stravinsky: Le Rossignol. Quatre Chants paysans russes “Les Soucoupes”

Trois pieces pour quatuor à cordes. “Madrid.” Quatre Etudes pour orchestre

CD 3

Stravinsky: L’Histoire du soldat. Concertino for 12 instruments

CD 4

Schoenberg: Pelléas et Mélisande. Variations op. 31

CD 5

Schoenberg: Violin Concerto, op. 36. Piano Concerto, op. 42

CD 6

Messiaen: Et exspecto ressurectionem mortuorum. Couleurs de la Cité Céleste

CD 7

Berio: Sinfonia. Eindrücke

Xenakis: Jalons

CD 8

Donatoni: Tema for 12 instruments. Cadeau

Ligeti: Etudes for piano (Book 1)

Trio for violin, horn and piano

CD 9

Kurtág: Messages de feu Demoiselle R.V. Troussova

Birtwistle: …AGM…

Grisey: Modulations

CD 10

Carter: Concerto for Oboe. Esprit rude/Esprit doux

A Mirror on which to Dwell. Penthode

CD 11

Dufourt: Antiphysis

Ferneyhough: Funérailles I & II

Harvey: Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

Höller: Arcus

CD 12

Boulez: Pli selon pli

CD 13

Boulez: Le Visage nuptial. Le soleil des eaux. Figures, Doubles, Prismes

CD 14

Boulez: Sonatine for flute and piano. Piano Sonata No. 1. Dérive I

Mémoriale (…Explosante-fixe…Originel). Dialogue de l’ombre double

cummings ist der Dichter

 

 

PIERRE BOULEZ: 20th CENTURY (1990-2013) on Deutsche Grammophon

 

CD 1–8 BÉLA BARTÓK

 

CD 1

4 Pieces for Orchestra op. 12 (Sz 51)

Concerto for Orchestra Sz 116

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

(P) 1993

 

CD 2

Dance Suite Sz 77

Two Pictures op. 10 (Sz 46)

Hungarian Sketches Sz 97

Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz 113

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

(P) 1995

 

CD 3

The Miraculous Mandarin op. 19 (Sz 73)

Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106

Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Sz 73)

 

CD 4

Cantata Profana Sz.94 – The Nine Splendid Stags

The Wooden Prince, Sz. 60 (Op.13)

John Aler, tenor, John Tomlinson, baritone

Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (Chorus Master: Margaret Hillis)

 

CD 5

The Piano Concertos

No. 1 Krystian Zimerman / Chicago Symphony Orchestra

No. 2 Leif Ove Andsnes / Berliner Philharmoniker

No. 3 Hélène Grimaud / London Symphony Orchestra

 

CD 6

Concerto for 2 Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra Sz 115

Tamara Stefanovich, piano 1

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano 2

London Symphony Orchestra

Violin Concerto No. 1 Sz 36

Gidon Kremer / Berliner Philharmoniker

Viola Concerto Sz 120

Yuri Bashmet / Berliner Philharmoniker

 

CD 7

Violin Concerto No. 2

Rhapsodies Nos. 1 + 2

Gil Shaham / Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 

CD 8

Bluebeard’s Castle Sz 48

Jessye Norman (Judith) · László Polgár (Bluebeard) · Nicholas Simon (Prologue)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 

 

CD 9–12 ALBAN BERG

 

CD 9

Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments

Daniel Barenboim, piano · Pinchas Zukerman, violin

Ensemble Intercontemporain

+

Lulu-Suite

Wiener Philharmoniker

 

CD 10–12

Lulu (Complete opera in 3 acts)

Stratas · Minton · Schwarz · Mazura · Riegel · Blankenheim · Tear · Pampuch

Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris

 

 

CD 13 & 14 HARRISON BIRTWISTLE

 

CD 13

Theseus Game* 33:14

Earth Dances 33:17

*Brabbins, Valade, Diry, Kretschmer

Ensemble Modern

 

CD 14

Secret Theatre

Tragoedia

Five Distances

3 Settings of Celan*

Christine Whittlesey,*

Ensemble Intercontemporain

75:43

 

The Triumph of Time 27:43 (Decca) – see CD 37

 

CD 15–19 PIERRE BOULEZ

 

CD 15

Notations for piano solo (Aimard) 10:43

Structures pour deux pianos 22:06

…explosante-fixe… 36:43

Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez, Sophie Cherrier, Emmanuelle Ophele, Pierre Andre Valade

 

CD 16

Le Marteau sans maître (1953–1955)*

Dérive 1 (1984)

Dérive 2 (1988/2002)

Hilary Summers,* soprano

Ensemble Intercontemporain

 

CD 17

Pli selon Pli (1957–1989)

Christine Schäfer, soprano

Ensemble Intercontemporain

 

CD 18

Répons (1981–1984)

Vassilakis, Boffard, piano / Cambreling, harp / Bauer, vibraphone, CIampolini, xylophone & Glockenspiel / Cerutti, cimbalom

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Dialogue de l’ombre double (1985)

Alain Damien, clarinet

 

CD 19

Sur Incises

Messagesquisse

Jean-Guihen Queyras, Ensemble Intercontemporain

 

 

CD 20–21 CLAUDE DEBUSSY

 

CD 20

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

Images pour Orchestre

Printemps

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

 

CD 21

Trois Nocturnes*

Première Rhapsodie pour clarinette et orchestra

Jeux

La Mer

Franklin Cohen, clarinet

The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus*

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

See also CD 29

 

 

CD 22–23 GYÖRGI LIGETI

 

CD 22

Chamber Concerto for 13 instrumentalists (1969–70)

Ramifications for string orchestra or 12 solo strings (1968–69)

Aventures for 3 singers and 7 instrumentalists (1962)

Nouvelles Aventures for 3 singers and 7 instrumentalists

Jane Manning, soprano / Mary Thomas, mezzo-soprano / William Pearson, bass

Ensemble Intercontemporain

 

CD 23

Piano Concerto (1985-88)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

Cello Concerto (1966)

Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello

Violin Concerto (1992)

Saschko Gawriloff, violin

Ensemble InterContemporain

 

 

CD 24–25 OLIVIER MESSIAEN

 

CD 24

Poèmes pour Mi

Françoise Pollet, soprano

Le Réveil des oiseaux

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

Sept Haïkaï

Joela Jones, piano

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

CD 25

Chronochromie

La Ville d’en haut

Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

 

CD 26–29 MAURICE RAVEL

 

CD 26

Ma Mère l’Oye

Une Barque sur l’océan

Alborada del Gracioso

Rapsodie espagnole

Boléro

Berliner Philharmoniker

 

CD 27

Daphnis et Chloé*

La Valse

Rundfunkchor Berlin,* Berliner Philharmoniker

 

CD 28

Piano Concerto in G

Valses nobles et sentimentales

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand*

Krystian Zimerman, piano

The Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra*

 

CD 29

Shéhérazade* · Le Tombeau de Couperin · Pavane · Menuet antique

*Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano

+

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Danses for Harp and Orchestra*

5 Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire**

3 Ballades de François Villon**

Alison Hagley, soprano** · Lisa Wellbaum, harp*
The Cleveland Orchestra

 

CD 30–33 ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

 

CD 30

Pelleas und Melisande op. 5

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

+

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 42

Mitsuko Uchida, piano

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

CD 31

Pierrot Lunaire op. 21

Herzgewächse op. 20

Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte op. 41

Christine Schäfer, soprano

David Pittman-Jennings, narrator

Ensemble InterContemporain

 

CD 32-33

Moses und Aron

Merritt · Pittman-Jennings, Fontana · Naef · Graham-Hall

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

 

 

CD 34–39 IGOR STRAVINSKY

 

CD 34

IGOR STRAVINSKY

Le Chant du rossignol

L’Histoire du Soldat – Suite

Scherzo fantastique

Le Roi des étoiles

The Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus

 

CD 35

The Firebird

Fireworks

4 Etudes for Orchestra

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 

CD 36

Pétrouchka (Original Version: 1911)

Le Sacre du Printemps

The Cleveland Orchestra

 

CD 37

IGOR STRAVINSKY

Symphony of Psalms*

Symphony in 3 Movements

Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Rundfunkchor Berlin,* Berliner Philharmoniker

+

HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: The Triumph of Time 27:43 (Decca)

BBC Symphony Orchestra

478 4249, tr.  1

 

CD 38

IGOR STRAVINSKY

Ebony Concerto

3 Pieces for Clarinet Solo

Concertino for String Quartet

8 Miniatures

Concerto in E flat “Dumbarton Oaks”

Elégie for Viola Solo

Epitaphium

Double Canon for String Quartet

Michel Arrignon, clarinet

Ensemble InterContemporain

 

CD 39

Songs

Pastorale, 2 Poems by Paul Verlaine, 2 Poems by Konstanin Bal’mont, 3 Japanese Lyrics, 3 Songs (Recollections of my Childhood), Pribaoutki (4 Songs), 4 Cat’s Cradle Songs, 4 songs, Tilim-bom, Songs of Parasha (Mavra), 3 Songs from William Shakespeare, In memoriam Dylan Thomas, Elegy for J.F.K., 2 Sacred Songs from Spanisches Liederbuch / Hugo Wolf

Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano · Ann Murray, mezzo-soprano

Robert Tear, tenor · John Shirley-Quirk, baritone

Ensemble InterContemporain

 

CD 40 KAROL SZYMANOWSKI

 

CD 40

Violin Concerto No. 1 op. 35 (1916)

Symphonie No. 3 op. 27 »Song of the night · Piesn o nocy«

Christian Tetzlaff, violin · Steve Davislim, tenor

Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien · Wiener Philharmoniker

 

CD 41 EDGARD VARÈSE

 

CD 41

Amériques

Arcana

Déserts

Ionisation

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 

 

CD 42–44 ANTON WEBERN

 

CD 42

Passacaglia für Orchester op. 1

5 Movements op. 5 (Version for Orchestra)

6 Pieces for Orchestra op. 6

Im Sommerwind

Fuga (Ricercata)

German Dances

Berliner Philharmoniker

 

CD 43

Symphonie op. 21

Cantatas Nos. 1 & 2

3 Songs

Das Augenlicht op. 26

Variations op. 30

5 Pieces for Orchestra

Christiane Oelze, soprano · Gerald Finley, bass

BBC Singers, Berliner Philharmoniker

 

CD 44

Songs and Choruses

Piano Quintet (1907)

„Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen“ op. 2, 2 Lieder op. 8

5 Pieces for Orchestra op. 10

4 Lieder op. 13, 6 Lieder op. 14, 5 Sacred Songs op. 15, 5 Canons op. 16

3 Traditional Rhymes op. 17, 3 Lieder op. 18, 2 Lieder op. 19

Quartet op. 22

Concerto op. 24

Françoise Pollet, soprano (opp. 8, 13, 14) · Christiane Oelze, soprano (opp. 15 – 18)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

BBC Singers (opp. 2, 19)

Ensemble InterContemporain

 

 

 

 

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