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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. Boulez : Pli selon pli : I Don |
| 2. Boulez : Pli selon pli : II Improvisation No.1 sur Mallarmé |
| 3. Boulez : Pli selon pli : III Improvisation No.2 sur Mallarmé |
| 4. Boulez : Pli selon pli : IV Improvisation No.3 sur Mallarmé |
| 5. Boulez : Pli selon pli : V Tombeau |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. Boulez : Le visage nuptial : I Conduite |
| 2. Boulez : Le visage nuptial : II Gravité - L'emmuré |
| 3. Boulez : Le visage nuptial : III Le visage nuptial |
| 4. Boulez : Le visage nuptial : IV Evadne |
| 5. Boulez : Le visage nuptial : V Post-scriptum |
| 6. Boulez : Le soleil des eaux : I Complainte du lézard amoureux |
| 7. Boulez : Le soleil des eaux : II La Sorgue - Chanson pour Yvonne |
| 8. "Boulez : Figures, Doubles, Prismes" |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This collection of key Boulez works under the baton of the man himself is simply indispensible. "Le Visage nuptial" is an outstanding masterpiece of the vocal repertoire, and quite stunning here. None of these performances have ever been bettered, either by Boulez himself or any of the rare and brave performers who will tackle Boulez's music while is still around to hear their efforts and comment on them. If mid-to-late twentieth century music holds no horrors for you and you don't have this, you must acquire it! Oh, and it's steal at this price.
7 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Pierre Boulez has had several phases, and later in life he seems to have been willing to make more compromises with the audience, and to take them into account. I'll go ahead and say it -- he became more "accessible" later on.
Well, the compositions on this two-CD set are from his early, non-accessible period. At least they have their origins there. Boulez revised the works later on, and I'm not sure exactly what changed, for example, between the 1948 and the 1965 versions of "Le Soleil des Eaux", one of the compositions featured here.
I recently read a quote from Boulez's early years, something along the lines of "I don't care how a composition sounds, I care how it is made." Well, as a listener I don't really care how it's made, I care how it sounds. Mr Boulez and I have a fundamental conflict of interest in this respect, it seems.
Listening to CD 1, "Pli selon Pli", I was thinking this is a two-star recording, but I also realized that this is more about me than the performance. Boulez conducted this set with BBC Orchestra players, and the musicians and singer do a fine job, I'm sure. But I just didn't care for the music. Call me shallow and bourgeois, but I need at least a little bit of accessibility. There were some marimba flurries in the piece that I enjoyed, but that's just because I like the marimba.
I put in CD 2 with some trepidation after the first disc, but this actually turned out to be a four-star experience. The compositional model seems similar, but the pieces on the second disc are for full orchestra and feature vocal duets and choruses rather than a single soprano. People singing together mean that there are things resembling harmonies, and instruments playing together mean things resembling chords. Just this much of an acknowledgment by Mr Boulez makes a world of difference. This is still not my favorite music, but the second disc was much more to my liking.
If you love music from the Darmstadt School, I salute you. You'll probably really enjoy these CDs. Those with more pedestrian tastes, such as myself, should probably just jump over the 1950s and 1960s and head straight to things by composers like John Adams and Arvo Pärt. Or even later Boulez. These recordings, however, reflect an almost militant intellectual attitude that seems to have been more about theories and ideas than music.
Well, the compositions on this two-CD set are from his early, non-accessible period. At least they have their origins there. Boulez revised the works later on, and I'm not sure exactly what changed, for example, between the 1948 and the 1965 versions of "Le Soleil des Eaux", one of the compositions featured here.
I recently read a quote from Boulez's early years, something along the lines of "I don't care how a composition sounds, I care how it is made." Well, as a listener I don't really care how it's made, I care how it sounds. Mr Boulez and I have a fundamental conflict of interest in this respect, it seems.
Listening to CD 1, "Pli selon Pli", I was thinking this is a two-star recording, but I also realized that this is more about me than the performance. Boulez conducted this set with BBC Orchestra players, and the musicians and singer do a fine job, I'm sure. But I just didn't care for the music. Call me shallow and bourgeois, but I need at least a little bit of accessibility. There were some marimba flurries in the piece that I enjoyed, but that's just because I like the marimba.
I put in CD 2 with some trepidation after the first disc, but this actually turned out to be a four-star experience. The compositional model seems similar, but the pieces on the second disc are for full orchestra and feature vocal duets and choruses rather than a single soprano. People singing together mean that there are things resembling harmonies, and instruments playing together mean things resembling chords. Just this much of an acknowledgment by Mr Boulez makes a world of difference. This is still not my favorite music, but the second disc was much more to my liking.
If you love music from the Darmstadt School, I salute you. You'll probably really enjoy these CDs. Those with more pedestrian tastes, such as myself, should probably just jump over the 1950s and 1960s and head straight to things by composers like John Adams and Arvo Pärt. Or even later Boulez. These recordings, however, reflect an almost militant intellectual attitude that seems to have been more about theories and ideas than music.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
The best of the available recordings of "Pli selon pli" with some Boulez B-sides
8 Mar 2012
Format:Audio CD
This 2CD release in Warner Classics' budget line "Apex" reissues part of an Erato box set, which itself was a compendium of earlier releases. There's another Apex disc that reissues other material from that box set. Taken together, these reissues seem to contain mostly the "B-sides" of Boulez's career, providing some entertainment but not quite as successful as other the composer's other pieces recorded, for example, in Deutsche Grammophon's "20/21" series.
Across these two discs, Boulez conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The first disc is filled entirely with "Pli selon pli" (1957-1962), Boulez's grand setting of Mallarmé for soprano and orchestra. The recording is from 1981 and the soprano is Phyllis Brun-Julson. Though often hailed as Boulez's greatest achievement, I've always had mixed feelings about this work, as it tends to drag on and on. Still, even though the pitched percussion and mid-range magic of the first movement wears off quickly and the bulk of the work is dull, the last movement "Tombeau" presents some of the most exciting music I've ever heard. It's highly contrapuntal with continually building energy, fierce interplay of brass and percussion, and finally the soprano enters for a mysterious but conclusive ending.
The last movement is enough for me to pull this recording off the shelves a couple of times a month, and anyone who is interested in Boulez's music ought to give "Pli selon pli" a try. This is probably the recording to get. It is in better sound than the 1960s Sony recording, but Boulez's conducting still hasn't lost its fire, a development which mars the later DG recording.
"Le Visage nuptial" (1946, final version 1988-89) and "Le Soleil des eaux" (1947, final version 1965) are two settings of Rene Char for soprano, mezzo-soprano, choir and ensemble. These works might be considered juvenalia, since they draw too obvious inspiration from Webern's cantatas, but they are among Boulez's most accessible works with their lushness and clear dramatic qualities. The poetry of "Le Soleil des eaux" is quite charming too. This collection is one of the few places to get them, which presents a good motivation to buy it.
"Figures-Doubles-Prismes" (1963/1968) was first conceived in 1957. Karlheinz Stockhausen was writing his famous piece "Gruppen" for three orchestras at the time, and Boulez was interested in the unorthodox arrangement of the performing ensemble. Boulez's own approach was to use a single orchestra but to mix its segments up, with brass and wind inside the string section, resulting in exotic combinations of timbre. The result is rather disappointing. Boulez still hasn't finished the piece in nearly a half-century, and listening to it one can immediately tell that it's still very much a sketch for something else. There's no especial difference between this and the Robertson recording on Naive.
(Verified purchase from a London record shop.)
Across these two discs, Boulez conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The first disc is filled entirely with "Pli selon pli" (1957-1962), Boulez's grand setting of Mallarmé for soprano and orchestra. The recording is from 1981 and the soprano is Phyllis Brun-Julson. Though often hailed as Boulez's greatest achievement, I've always had mixed feelings about this work, as it tends to drag on and on. Still, even though the pitched percussion and mid-range magic of the first movement wears off quickly and the bulk of the work is dull, the last movement "Tombeau" presents some of the most exciting music I've ever heard. It's highly contrapuntal with continually building energy, fierce interplay of brass and percussion, and finally the soprano enters for a mysterious but conclusive ending.
The last movement is enough for me to pull this recording off the shelves a couple of times a month, and anyone who is interested in Boulez's music ought to give "Pli selon pli" a try. This is probably the recording to get. It is in better sound than the 1960s Sony recording, but Boulez's conducting still hasn't lost its fire, a development which mars the later DG recording.
"Le Visage nuptial" (1946, final version 1988-89) and "Le Soleil des eaux" (1947, final version 1965) are two settings of Rene Char for soprano, mezzo-soprano, choir and ensemble. These works might be considered juvenalia, since they draw too obvious inspiration from Webern's cantatas, but they are among Boulez's most accessible works with their lushness and clear dramatic qualities. The poetry of "Le Soleil des eaux" is quite charming too. This collection is one of the few places to get them, which presents a good motivation to buy it.
"Figures-Doubles-Prismes" (1963/1968) was first conceived in 1957. Karlheinz Stockhausen was writing his famous piece "Gruppen" for three orchestras at the time, and Boulez was interested in the unorthodox arrangement of the performing ensemble. Boulez's own approach was to use a single orchestra but to mix its segments up, with brass and wind inside the string section, resulting in exotic combinations of timbre. The result is rather disappointing. Boulez still hasn't finished the piece in nearly a half-century, and listening to it one can immediately tell that it's still very much a sketch for something else. There's no especial difference between this and the Robertson recording on Naive.
(Verified purchase from a London record shop.)
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A curmudgeonly view from an obvious non-sophisticate
2 Sep 2010
Format:Audio CD
Pierre Boulez has had several phases, and later in life he seems to have been willing to make more compromises with the audience, and to take them more into account. I'll go ahead and say it -- he became more "accessible" later on. He has even acknowledged as much in his older age, recognizing that perhaps the musical ideology of his earlier years was a bit too unbending.
Well, the compositions on this two-CD set are from that early, unbending period. At least they have their origins there. Boulez revised the works later on, and I'm not sure exactly what changed, for example, between the 1948 and the 1965 versions of "Le Soleil des Eaux", one of the compositions featured here.
Unfortunately, I am a listener who needs just a little more bending. I wish I could hear something to love in this music, and I salute those who can, but it just doesn't do much for me.
CD 1, "Pli selon Pli", receives two stars on my personal scale. Boulez conducted this set with BBC Orchestra players, and the musicians and singer do a fine job, I'm sure. But I just didn't care for the music. There were some marimba flurries in the piece that I enjoyed, but that's just because I like the marimba.
After this experience, I put in CD 2 with some trepidation. But it actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The compositional model seems similar, but the big difference is that these pieces are for full orchestra, and feature vocal duets and choruses rather than a single soprano. This is enough to make a huge difference -- people singing together mean harmonies, and instruments playing together mean chords. Just this much of a nod to the audience by Mr Boulez makes a world of difference. This is still not my favorite music, but the second disc was, for me, a four-star experience.
People who actually enjoy early, uncompromising Boulez and Darmstadt School music will love this, I'm sure. Those with more pedestrian tastes, such as myself, should probably just jump over most of Europe's 1950s and 1960s and head straight to things by composers like Arvo Pärt, or even later Pierre Boulez.
Well, the compositions on this two-CD set are from that early, unbending period. At least they have their origins there. Boulez revised the works later on, and I'm not sure exactly what changed, for example, between the 1948 and the 1965 versions of "Le Soleil des Eaux", one of the compositions featured here.
Unfortunately, I am a listener who needs just a little more bending. I wish I could hear something to love in this music, and I salute those who can, but it just doesn't do much for me.
CD 1, "Pli selon Pli", receives two stars on my personal scale. Boulez conducted this set with BBC Orchestra players, and the musicians and singer do a fine job, I'm sure. But I just didn't care for the music. There were some marimba flurries in the piece that I enjoyed, but that's just because I like the marimba.
After this experience, I put in CD 2 with some trepidation. But it actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The compositional model seems similar, but the big difference is that these pieces are for full orchestra, and feature vocal duets and choruses rather than a single soprano. This is enough to make a huge difference -- people singing together mean harmonies, and instruments playing together mean chords. Just this much of a nod to the audience by Mr Boulez makes a world of difference. This is still not my favorite music, but the second disc was, for me, a four-star experience.
People who actually enjoy early, uncompromising Boulez and Darmstadt School music will love this, I'm sure. Those with more pedestrian tastes, such as myself, should probably just jump over most of Europe's 1950s and 1960s and head straight to things by composers like Arvo Pärt, or even later Pierre Boulez.
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