Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

Started by bhodges, January 17, 2008, 09:54:31 AM

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Karl Henning

Very cool. Though honestly I do not at all regret fetching the two prior Sony boxes, as I cannot think that their ample booklets are reproduced in this new iteration.  The music, which is the important thing, is absolutely magnificent, though.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

San Antone

Quote from: karlhenning on January 18, 2013, 06:43:56 AM
Very cool. Though honestly I do not at all regret fetching the two prior Sony boxes, as I cannot think that their ample booklets are reproduced in this new iteration.  The music, which is the important thing, is absolutely magnificent, though.

My sentiments, too.

MDL

Quote from: karlhenning on January 18, 2013, 06:43:56 AM
Very cool. Though honestly I do not at all regret fetching the two prior Sony boxes, as I cannot think that their ample booklets are reproduced in this new iteration.  The music, which is the important thing, is absolutely magnificent, though.

True, the booklet notes are excellent for mid-price reissues. I picked up the complete Sony Stravinsky when it was reissued in a cheap,
no-frills box, but I can't bear to let go of the handful of individual issues I'd bought earlier; I want to keep the texts and notes.

snyprrr

Quote from: karlhenning on January 18, 2013, 04:16:28 AM
On the Left Bank, they call him the musical Dorian Gray . . . .

He looks like Kevorkian! :o

Karl Henning

And the translation of that article is very nearly in English.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

John Copeland

Quote from: James on February 12, 2013, 05:12:14 AM
Pierre Boulez wins BBVA contemporary music

The award is endowed with 400,000 euros and recognizes the long history of its various facets musician and as a creator and performer

Daniel Verdú
12 FEB 2013 - 12:37 CET
The directror and French composer Pierre Boulez has won this morning the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category of Contemporary Music. The jury noted that it granted for "be not only a first-rate composer looking to the future with determination, but also a personality engaged in all aspects of the reflection and transmission of music." According to the jury, "the set of activities reveals his keen sense of intellectual and social responsibility as an artist in modern times.
"The prize, worth 400,000 euros, falls this year on one of the enfants terriblesde classical music. Boulez is in a current always claimed the proximity of science with art. This morning, upon being granted an award that also has its equivalent in other categories, has returned to remember. "Science and music are at the end of the two forms of thought and I've always been in favor of their union."
Asked about the acceptance of contemporary music by broad audiences, Boulez replied that should not stop providing contemporary music by the fact that there is a majority: "We have to expand the repertoire and not fear the public."
The jury also emphasized that Boulez "has contributed to the rapprochement between scientific research, composition and musical practice through the joint creation of the Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic Music (IRCAM), and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, first stable ensemble contemporary music. "


Aye.  Good for him.  I will only applaud if ever he decides he likes Tchaikovsky after all.   >:(

Mirror Image

Quote from: Scots John on February 12, 2013, 06:07:18 AM
Aye.  Good for him.  I will only applaud if ever he decides he likes Tchaikovsky after all.   >:(

This won't happen. He doesn't think much about Shostakovich either. A shame because I think Boulez would be interesting in Symphony No. 15. :)

Cato

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 12, 2013, 07:35:38 AM
This won't happen. He doesn't think much about Shostakovich either. A shame because I think Boulez would be interesting in Symphony No. 15. :)

Given that Boulez tackled Bruckner's Eighth Symphony and all the Mahler symphonies and is not averse to early Schoenberg like the Gurrelieder, it is more than a shame: I find it odd.

And something I have wondered about: Boulez conducting the Prokofiev Second Symphony!   :o 8)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

CRCulver

Quote from: Cato on February 14, 2013, 03:30:32 AM
Given that Boulez tackled Bruckner's Eighth Symphony and all the Mahler symphonies and is not averse to early Schoenberg like the Gurrelieder, it is more than a shame: I find it odd.

It's not odd at all. Boulez has stated his dislike of Shostakovich, calling him a "second- or third-pressing of Mahler".

I'm not so enthusiastic at this news of Boulez's prize. The classical music blog On an Overgrown Path has noted how so many classical music cash prizes go to composers and performers who are already fêted millionaires, while younger and less financially secure figures are overlooked.

bhodges

Quote from: CRCulver on February 14, 2013, 10:16:34 AM
I'm not so enthusiastic at this news of Boulez's prize. The classical music blog On an Overgrown Path has noted how so many classical music cash prizes go to composers and performers who are already fêted millionaires, while younger and less financially secure figures are overlooked.

Word. I love Boulez - both his works and his conducting - and wouldn't hesitate to place laurels on him any time. But that said, that kind of money given to someone else would make a real difference in his/her ability to work at an entirely different level.

--Bruce

San Antone

Quote from: CRCulver on February 14, 2013, 10:16:34 AM
It's not odd at all. Boulez has stated his dislike of Shostakovich, calling him a "second- or third-pressing of Mahler".

I'm not so enthusiastic at this news of Boulez's prize. The classical music blog On an Overgrown Path has noted how so many classical music cash prizes go to composers and performers who are already fêted millionaires, while younger and less financially secure figures are overlooked.

Agree on the cash prize.

Regarding Shostakovich, discounting Boulez's overly harsh judgement, I too am not interested in Shostakovich's symphonies and will not bemoan Boulez's neglect of them.  It is the quartets that I listen to when I want to hear Shostakovich.  Despite the near unanimous opinion that he is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, there is a quality in his music which grates on my senses, and which seems to be more evident in the symphonies.  It has to do how he handles (and what I perceive as an overuse of) the technique of sequence.

Cato

Quote from: Cato on February 14, 2013, 03:30:32 AM
..., it is more than a shame: I find it odd.

And something I have wondered about: Boulez conducting the Prokofiev Second Symphony!   :o 8)

I understand why people do not find it odd: certainly not every Shostakovich symphony is equal to Mahler or Bruckner or Hartmann (now there is a gap I really find odd!), but certainly e.g. the Tenth was good enough to interest that German character with the hair...oh right! HvK! :laugh:
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

TheGSMoeller

If Boulez were to give any attention to DSCH's symphonies, he certainly would focus on the two most flourishing and unique, No. 14 and No. 15.  :)

CRCulver

Quote from: James on March 01, 2013, 10:04:53 AM
Deutsche Grammophon
Pierre Boulez
Oeuvres Completes - Complete Works
13 CDs
Int. Release 16 Apr. 2013


Nice. Hopefully this will bring Gianluca Cascioli's recording of the 1994 version of Incises back into print. But I wonder what else will be in the set, as if DG were reissuing just the Boulez volumes in the 20/21 series, it wouldn't extend to 13 CDs. Perhaps they really reached into their archives for this.

lescamil

Quote from: CRCulver on March 01, 2013, 02:39:06 PM
Nice. Hopefully this will bring Gianluca Cascioli's recording of the 1994 version of Incises back into print.

Doubtful, since the piece was revised in 2001. I don't know if Boulez would like older versions of his pieces being out back out there.
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CRCulver

Quote from: lescamil on March 01, 2013, 02:50:04 PM
Doubtful, since the piece was revised in 2001. I don't know if Boulez would like older versions of his pieces being out back out there.

No, the 1994 version of Incises is still available for performance. (David Fray chose to record it several years ago, instead of the 2001 version, for example). DG has never released yet a recording of the 2001 version, so I'd be surprised to find it in this box set which may be mostly reissues.

If this were a real "complete works" set with fresh recordings of late works, it would have to include Une page d'éphéméride. Vassilakis has just recorded that for Cybele, so if it were in this set I imagine it would be recorded by Hideki Nagano if the label is going with Boulez's trusted EIC musicians. Of course, this is all speculation.

Octave

Quote from: James on March 01, 2013, 10:04:53 AM
Deutsche Grammophon
Pierre Boulez
Oeuvres Completes - Complete Works
13 CDs
Int. Release 16 Apr. 2013


Presto's product page shows some pieces that (it seems) will be newly published in this set.  Certainly not a complete listing of the set's contents, yet.
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/4806828

Here's what it says at the moment (I can only find a mention of the set on DG's site, but no product page or contents yet), with more details perhaps forthcoming:

QuoteImprovisé - pour le Dr Kalmus pour piano et quatre instruments
Recording 2012. New recording made for the edition (world-première)
Solistes de l'Ensemble Intercontemporain

Une page d'éphéméride
Recording 2012. New recording made for the edition (world-première)
Hidéki Nagano (piano)

Dérive II
Live recording 2010. Previously unpublished recording.
Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez

Notations I-IV
Live recording 2007. Previously unpublished recording.
Ensemble Modern Orchestra, Pierre Boulez

Notations VII
Live recording 2007. Previously unpublished recording.
Ensemble Modern Orchestra, Pierre Boulez

Livre pour cordes
Live recording 1992, previously published on VHS (DG 0721443)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Vienne, Pierre Boulez

The complete works of one of the greatest contemporary composers have been brought together for the first time in a 13-CD set.

This edition has been completely carried out under the composer's supervision, including the choice of recordings, and features world-class performances by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, Maurizio Pollini, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Christine Schäfer and others.

This set features new recordings made especially for this edition, works previously unreleased on CD, and an exclusive interview with the composer.
Help support GMG by purchasing items from Amazon through this link.

snyprrr

Is anyone else starting to chub? :P

Joaquimhock

Quote from: James on March 07, 2013, 09:15:18 AM
DG has this listing up .. disappointing, it's just a hodge-podge of stuff brought together from various labels .. 98% of which I have already have, including the odd really, really old recordings incl. in this box .. and not listing ...explosante-fixe... has to be a mistake.



No trace of the Livre pour cordes by the Wiener Philharmoniker or the Notations I-IV and VII  mentioned on Presto Classical
"Dans la vie il faut regarder par la fenêtre"

snyprrr

Quote from: James on March 07, 2013, 09:15:18 AM
DG has this listing up .. disappointing, it's just a hodge-podge of stuff brought together from various labels .. 98% of which I have already have, including the odd really, really old recordings incl. in this box .. and not listing ...explosante-fixe... has to be a mistake.



"Ehh, this is Pierre Boulez. Fuck you. You can suck on my Shitty Box Set!"


Oh MY! :o How rude those French can be! :o


Yea, I just went limp. I just didn't care for the forced line-up. DG is the new Brilliant! Who knew? Who knew that the 'Complete Boulez Edition' would elicit cud chewing? This is one of those attempted soul rapes they're trying to foist on us here. I say we respond by a COMPLETE BOYCOTT!

It just smells cheap. It's like the DG logo is just a clearing house symbol. I'm just done with the 'culling' phase of our current Musico-IndusdrialCompleze. I'm imagining DG executives snorting coke off their desks: if they don't want ... frankly, I just want to know how complicit Boulez was in this.

Fra... ok, let me take a deep breath......        ............        ............    ok, I will reserve judgment until I feel the WEIGHT of the actual thing! That's how you can tell true quality. :blank:


LAMENESS RULES THE DARK SIDE