Pierre Boulez: The Complete Columbia Album Collection Box set

[James]

I figured this one is worthy of it's own thread in this section ..

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Pierre Boulez – The Complete Columbia Album Collection

Sony Classical is delighted to announce an unprecedented reissue of the recordings made by Pierre Boulez for CBS/American Columbia. They are all being issued together for the first time in a single Sony Classical box set of 67 CDs. Every recording comes from the best source; several have been newly remastered from the original analogue tapes, such as Bergs Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4 (1967), Seven Early Songs (1972) and Carter's A Mirror On Which To Dwell.

One of the towering figures of modern music, Boulez began his conducting career in 1958 in Baden-Baden, Germany. His remarkable achievements in Europe brought him to the attention of George Szell, who invited him to make his US debut in 1965 with the Cleveland Orchestra. Boulez went on to serve in Cleveland as principal guest conductor and musical advisor from 1967 until 1972, and has maintained close ties to that elite ensemble ever since. In 1971, he became chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, and the same year he succeeded Leonard Bernstein as music director of the New York Philharmonic, holding that illustrious position until 1977.

Principally with those leading orchestras, Pierre Boulez – who began his conducting career in order to do justice do his own challenging works – quickly garnered the reputation of a peerless interpreter of Berlioz and Wagner; Debussy and Ravel; Schoenberg, Berg and Webern; Bartók and Stravinsky; Messiaen, Varèse and Carter. Early on, CBS began documenting that reputation with the benchmark recordings now being brought together in a single release.

The series began in 1966 with a complete recording of Berg's Wozzeck at the Paris Opera and Debussy's La Mer, Jeux and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune with London's New Philharmonia ("A record that needed to be made" – Records & Recording). Both won Grammys. It continued into the 1990s with one distinguished release after another, far too many to list here. A few highlights: Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps, a Boulez speciality, recorded in Cleveland in 1969 (another Grammy winner), Debussy's only opera Pelléas et Mélisande at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1970 ("A revelation" – Saturday Review; "...a delicacy and clarity I have never before encountered" – New York Times), and, that same year with the London Symphony Orchestra, the first complete recording of Mahler's Das klagende Lied.

Boulez's New York Philharmonic recordings of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé brought him further Grammys in 1973 and 1975, respectively. Other acclaimed opera recordings followed, including Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle and Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, both with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. There were a number of surprises and rarities, too: Handel's Water Music, Berlioz's Lélio narrated by Jean-Louis Barrault, Wagner's rarely heard choral work Love-Feast of the Apostles, and a controversial, stimulating Beethoven Fifth Symphony. These are, of course, all to be found in this new collection.

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

DISC 2:
Berg: Wozzeck, Op. 7 From the drama by George Buchner (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

DISC 10:
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (1947 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 (Album Version)

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: Scenes burlesques en quatre tableaux (1911 version)

DISC 20:
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19
Bartók: Dance Suite (Sz 77)
Ravel: Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra

DISC 21:
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 - Overture caractéristique - 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 and Isolde

DISC 27:
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

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

DISC 29:
Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder

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

DISC 32:
Stravinksy: 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:
Varese: Amériques
Varese: Ionisation
Varese: 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
Stravinsly: Symphonies Of Wind Instruments

DISC 44:
Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21

DISC 45: Wagner: Das Liebesmahl der Apostel
Wagner: Sigfried 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 nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl
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
Ravel: Shéhérazade, Ouverture de Féerie
Ravel: Fanfare Pour L'Eventail de Jeanne

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: Wesendonk 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:
Varese: Equatorial
Varese: Deserts
Varese: Intégrales
Varese: Hyperprism
Varese: Octandre
Varese: Offrandes (Album Version)
Varese: 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: c526

[Brian]

Wow, I've never even heard of "Love-Feast of the Apostles". And my inner teenager can think of some wrong interpretations of that title.

This box is of very high interest to me. Great mix of repertoire that I love and repertoire that will push me outside my comfort zone.

Is that listing right, though? Look at Disc 21. That's just 20 minutes of music!

[Karl Henning]

Discs 5 & 19 also leapt to my eye as probably on the light-weight side.

[AnthonyAthletic]

I guess I can wait..

...Wait until the Parents say "What do you want for Christmas, Son"?

Boulez

Christmas is Nigh 

[Brian]

Discs 5 & 19 also leapt to my eye as probably on the light-weight side.

Also the one that's just "Le sacre". But I suppose these must all be "original jacket" recordings. The Murray Perahia box had a similar number of "original jacket" discs and eventually came down to about US $70...that would be a guaranteed buy, for me.

[ritter]

AFAIK, the only things that have not been issued previously on CD (or, if so, only in limted, hard-to-find Japanese editions) are:

- Carter's A Mirror on which to dwell on disc 21(this seems top be an earlier recording than the one made by Boulez with the EIC on Erato).
- Beethoven's 5th Symphony on disc 12 (Meerestille und glückliche Fahrt was available in some CBS compilation of Beethoven works).
- The adagio from Mahler's 10th Symphony (also on disc 12)
- Tthe Berg songs on disc 8 and disc 23. Act 3 of Wozzeck on this latter disc is extracted from the complete recording on disc 1 and 2, I believe.

I have everthing in my collection except the works I mention above, and some of the Handel on disc 49. But this is set is a must for me, and if the "original jacket" concept extends to "original liner notes", even more so. 

Also AFAIK, the Musique Vivante - Yvonne Minton Marteau sans maître has only been available from ArkivMusic as a made to order CD-R.

Salutations bouleziennes,

[Mookalafalas]

After carefully counting, I have zero of these discs.  That makes the box pretty attractive
   However, I bought the Sony Perahia box at full price and then it went down to half and then to nearly a third of the original price.  I would be wise to hold out on this one if I have the will power (or unless one of the Amazon comes out with a super sweet pre-order price---here's looking at YOU Amazon.de!).

[Abuelo Igor]

Be aware that the equivalent box set from DGG must be on the drawing boards even as we speak. Nevertheless, I have a rule: if a box set duplicates more than ten discs in my collection, I usually stay away from it. I only regret this box set mania, with the attendant spectacular bargains, didn't exist as a phenomenon back in my younger and destitute years. Now I can get them without effort but the time to enjoy them, unfortunately, is lacking.

[Jo498]

Unfortunately I got most I am interested in already in earlier issues: The "black" Berg and Stravinsky boxes and many single or double discs with Bartok, Debussy, Ravel, "Das Klagende Lied", Pli selon pli, and a few more in the earlier Sony (white background with modern paintings).  As I am not a completist and like the design of those single issues, I'll probably skip this, although I'd like to get Mahler 10 and "Meerestille und glückliche Fahrt" (a nice little gem hardly ever recorded, I keep a Chailly recording despite the mediocre C major mass which is the "main" piece on that disc).

[Karl Henning]

After carefully counting, I have zero of these discs.  That makes the box pretty attractive

That's the key!  There's a lot of good stuff in there, but I must already have 15 discs of it.

[Abuelo Igor]

What I find really striking about Boulez's Berg is the horror-movie scream prior to the ending of the "Lulu-Suite", supposedly representing her killing by Jack the Ripper. I thought it was part of the work, but I haven't found it yet in another recorded version, and I have a few. It really scared me at the time, I didn't see it coming.

[Brian]

I only regret this box set mania, with the attendant spectacular bargains, didn't exist as a phenomenon back in my younger and destitute years. Now I can get them without effort but the time to enjoy them, unfortunately, is lacking.

This is one of the things I am enjoying most about being a classical listener who is still in his younger, very destitute years!

[NorthNYMark]

Wow--this looks like a must-buy for me, though I've been trying to cut back on the mega-boxes as of late.  I already have the "black box" of the Webern-Carter-Varese material, but that still leaves more than enough to make this worthwhile, and I happen to really enjoy the "original album sleeve" approach, especially from this era of really interesting classical LP artwork.  As others have mentioned, though, with Sony it can be hard to figure out the best time to buy for the best price (with Decca/Philips/DG boxes, they are usually least expensive when they first come out).  I often regret having missed out on the Bernstein Symphony box when it could be had for around $80.

[Mirror Image]

What I find really striking about Boulez's Berg is the horror-movie scream prior to the ending of the "Lulu-Suite", supposedly representing her killing by Jack the Ripper. I thought it was part of the work, but I haven't found it yet in another recorded version, and I have a few. It really scared me at the time, I didn't see it coming.

Do you own the Abbado/Vienna PO performance? The reason I ask is because Juliane Banse screams in this one. Granted, it's not as shocking as I thought Judith Blegen's scream was, but it's still quite affecting in its own way.

[Mirror Image]

If I didn't own more than half of these Boulez recordings, this would be a very worthwhile set.

[Brian]

I often regret having missed out on the Bernstein Symphony box when it could be had for around $80.

You may want to rush over to Amazon UK and pre-order the Bernstein Everything Else box. I pre-ordered mine for US $100 including shipping, and it has 80 CDs instead of the Symphony box's 60.

[dennisri]

Hi guys, so I just recently acquired this box set but I wanted to import it into iTunes and was hoping someone had the artwork for all the individual discs? If so please let me know! Thank you so much!

[Mirror Image]

Hi guys, so I just recently acquired this box set but I wanted to import it into iTunes and was hoping someone had the artwork for all the individual discs? If so please let me know! Thank you so much!

Very unlikely. Getting album cover art is a time consuming thing. I seriously doubt any member, myself included, has the artwork for each individual disc. You can try a Google search for album covers and what not. Bing Images is also a good search engine for covers.

[Mookalafalas]

I actually scanned each cover. Only time I've ever done that.

BTW, this is very cheap now.  109Euros at Amazon IT.  I could swear I saw it for 105, Amazon de maybe?

Edit: 99 Euros from Amazon.de

[Brian]

Hi guys, so I just recently acquired this box set but I wanted to import it into iTunes and was hoping someone had the artwork for all the individual discs? If so please let me know! Thank you so much!

Your best bet is this guy/gal's blog. (S)he's obsessively scanning all the artwork for all the CDs in big box sets.

Looks like no Boulez Edition yet, though.