Boulez - Pli selon Pli

I grew enormously attached to the CBS version as a result of these repeated hearings/wanderings, and was disappointed by the next version that was recorded, on ERATO, with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, because it struck me as having prettified the music. Edges were now smoothed out, the playing of the orchestra was much more polished, less on edge. My favorite remained the CBS version. Now this new one comes along on DG. It continues down the path of the ERATO version, bringing Boulez more in line with Debussy than ever. The playing is superb, the sound much gentler on the ear, the textures less forest-like, more crystalline. This sounds more like equisite chamber music now, and less like a journey into an atonal tropics. It's a beautiful performance, but I would never want to be without the old CBS (now SONY) version.

Pli Selon Pli is a work for large forces, though these are used sparingly and in a chamber music fashion. The opening and closing movements of the work feature the full ensemble. Embedded in the piece are three "Improvisations sur Marllarme" which began their lives as separate pieces and were encorporated into the complete work later. They retain most of their original soprano and chamber ensemble setting. The language is Boulezian - totally serial and uncompromisingly dissonant, and yet, especially in this new recording of the finalized work, it is sensual, with moments that are achingly lovely. Boulez's genius for instrumental sonority has never been better showcased than in this piece (though Le Martel sans Maitre comes close). Boulez fans will want both the original recording from the 70s and this one as there are many interesting points of comparison. Those who are curious about the composer would do best with this recording only. Pli Selon Pli is oe of the composer's most attractive works and a great place for anyone with adventurous ears to start learning about this seminal figure in 20th century music.

The great French poet Mallarme may have been shocked to hear what sort of music Boulez wrote to accompany his poems, but the word-setting, though hardly hummable, has a strange beauty all of its own, and acutally lends more melody to this work than you'll find in most atonal pieces--after all, an orchestra can play just harmony and rhythm, but a soprano can only sing a melody, no matter how large the leaps it makes. Christine Schafer dispatches Boulez's difficult lines well--she may be slightly troubled by the high note near the end, but it comes out clearly and maybe is even more convincing this way. Who wouldn't find it tough?

But, in true Boulez fashion, no matter how beguiling the vocal lines it is ultimately the orchestra which dominates. This is no tragedy, however, because in M. Boulez we have one of the master orchestraters of all time. You can see from the pictures included in the liner notes what a battery of percussion is at the disposal of the Ensemble InterContemporain, and Boulez makes good use of all of it. The shimmering sonorities are instantly attractive.

Let me qualify that: they will be attractive assuming the listener has had some experience appreciating atonal music. It would be possible to fall in love with this at first listen, but I doubt if that happens often. It took me a couple years of slowly testing the water to warm up to 12-tone music, but I'm glad I persevered. Nonetheless, my family, who have little tolerance for modern art, give me a very hard time if I listen to this on anything but my headphones. However, if you've bought this and hate it, I recommend giving it a few more chances. You might well warm up to its unusual sound-world, as I did.

Anyway, the glittering, otherworldly sonorities of this masterpiece are, as usual, played with virtuosic panache by the doyens of avant-garde orchestral works, the Ensemble InterContemporain. This orchestra was founded by Pierre Boulez, so they are his definitive interpreters and respond well to his direction. This stuff is pretty beatless, so I don't even know exactly how it would be conducted or how the players follow Boulez's beat, but he has a true rapport with the Ensemble and everything comes off with clarity and precision.

I really like this whole work, but if I don't have time to listen to all of it I'll probably hear the beginning, then head for the denouement--the final movement is all orchestral until the very end, when the single, beautifully creepy line "Un peu profond ruisseau calomine la mort" is sung (it means "A trickling stream we villify as death"). I think the orchestral part really does sound like a stream or river, but I'm not sure Boulez would appreciate me saying that. Anyway, listening to Christine Schafer sing that line, with all the altitudinous writing, then whisper "la mort", followed by the tremendous finality of the last chord, is spine-tingling and unforgettable. The end probably ranks as my favorite part.

If you're a fan of atonal works, or brilliant orchestration in general, this should be on your shelf. It will stretch your ears, but, if you're open to this repetoire, it will very likely make them tingle with delight, too.