Boulez Conducts Varèse

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Pierre Boulez's Sony recordings of Varèse's music long ruled the roost until Riccardo Chailly's complete set with the Concertgebouw for Decca. This Chicago remake, for all its precise orchestral playing, doesn't challenge either of them. Both the Sony Boulez and Decca Chailly have a sense of enthusiasm and a feeling for the wildness with which these avant-garde works burst upon the scene in the 1920s. Amériques, for example, should knock your socks off, with its sirens piercing through the orchestral textures, but they're relatively tame on this expansive reading, in which Boulez seems to lavish more affection on the quiet opening section. Déserts is also more measured than it should be, the resulting precision bought at the cost of intensity. Virtually anything Boulez conducts is worth hearing, and this disc certainly reveals much about the scores, but hopes that this master of modern music would top his earlier recording aren't fulfilled. --Dan Davis

Boulez Conducts Varèse, Music, Edgard Varese, Pierre Boulez, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 20th/21st Century Orchestral Music, Chamber, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Electronic/Computer/Tape Music, Orchestral, Orchestral & Symphonic, Percussion Chamber Music

Average customer rating:

You will not be dissapointed, try it

Do NOT miss this !

Varese in context

A must have...

an antidote to Chailly

Boulez Conducts Varèse

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Varese: Arcana; Ameriques; Ionization; Offrandes; Density 21.5; Octandre; Integrales

Varèse - The Complete Works / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra · Asko Ensemble · Chailly

Varèse: Arcana; Intégrales; Déserts

Anton Webern: Complete Works, Opp. 1-31

Le Chant du Rossignol/L'Histoire du Soldat

ASIN: B00005KBJS
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Tracks:

Ameriques
Arcana
Deserts
Ionisation

Amazon.com

Pierre Boulez's Sony recordings of Varèse's music long ruled the roost until Riccardo Chailly's complete set with the Concertgebouw for Decca. This Chicago remake, for all its precise orchestral playing, doesn't challenge either of them. Both the Sony Boulez and Decca Chailly have a sense of enthusiasm and a feeling for the wildness with which these avant-garde works burst upon the scene in the 1920s. Amériques, for example, should knock your socks off, with its sirens piercing through the orchestral textures, but they're relatively tame on this expansive reading, in which Boulez seems to lavish more affection on the quiet opening section. Déserts is also more measured than it should be, the resulting precision bought at the cost of intensity. Virtually anything Boulez conducts is worth hearing, and this disc certainly reveals much about the scores, but hopes that this master of modern music would top his earlier recording aren't fulfilled. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

You will not be dissapointed, try it .......2006-08-31

I was not much of a fan of
the music of Edgar Varese;
until I decided to give it
a try. I tell you, that I
really enjoyed what I heard.
I think that the works recorded
here are superb. I belive that
these is some of Varese's early
works composed in New York, exept
for "Deserts" that was first heard
in Paris in 1954 under the baton
of Pierre Boulez who in this recording
does a wonderful job conducting the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra."Ionization"
a work for 13 percussion instruments
is the shortest on this program, and
is one of my favorites. I think that
this is a highly recommended CD especially
for those who have not tried the music of
Varese, which in it self is so
hard to describe.

Do NOT miss this !.......2004-11-02

I've really enjoyed (and still do) the "complete Works" double disc set by Chailly/RCO/ASKO and have listened to it over and over to the point where I've even been able to sing along to Ionisation and Poèmé Électronique, but having listened to the "complete Webern" boxed set by Boulez/BPhH/BBC Singers (et al.), I was turned on by the idea of Boulez conducting works by Varése, and with the help of my good friend Google I found this disc, ordered it immediately and was blown away beyond my expectations.
In comparison to Chailly's readings, Boulez's lead appears more controlled and more secure, but not only in terms of musical comprehension and efforts thereof - the sound is clearer and brings out parts that sometimes go unheard (or unnoticed) on the Chailly recordings, on which there is too much depth at times. Yes, depth can go too far and turn into an undistinguishable mess. Fortunately it doesn't turn that ugly on the Chailly discs, but the clearness of the overall sound here speaks to you in a more natural manner - you don't have to concentrate to "get the picture" - on the contrary; the mix of these 1995-96 recordings invites you--with more space, wider stereo picture, and somewhat more controlled dynamics (but by no means with a lack of depth)--to enjoy the music without your having to make an effort.
The tempos are just right, and even though I first reacted to the intro of Arcana being played too Andante, I learned that I could appreciate the big picture better here than on the Chailly's reading, and only the second time of listening to Boulez's reading of the piece, I did NOT think it should have been played faster - it makes perfect sense this way. I think this is as coherent and powerful a reading of orchestral music this dissonant you will find.
Buy it for Amériques. Buy it for Arcana. Buy it for Ionisation (a wonderfully captured essence of classical percussion). Buy it for Déserts, but a warning to those of you who might be buying this disc only for the sake of getting a complete version of Déserts; the three pre-recorded interpolations included on the Chailly recording are not included. The 4 main episodes--making the piece 17 minutes long--are included though, and are performed flawlessly. Enjoy!

Varese in context.......2002-11-02

The editorial review and some others rather miss the point of Boulez' recording. Boulez, a French composer and conductor, interprets Varese, a French-born composer whose work begins just after Debussy's death, as a colorist in the manner of the older composer. This makes historical sense. The vulgar and exaggerated displays of noise in most earlier recordings can make Varese seem hysterical. But Boulez allows us to view these works as the post-Debussy coloristic masterpieces they are, crafted with great care as to nuance and balance of sound. Boulez gives us a vision of Varese reborn without all the excessive clanging and banging and sirening that usually overshadow his most inventive, influential, and (please notice) subtle music. This is a welcome CD issue.

A must have..........2002-07-11

... togheter with Chaillys version because you have two different versions then and I mean not differnt because of conductor only. I mean Vareses longer or shorter verason of "Ameriques". This is the shorter version but both is great music and I dont want to live without none of them.

Boulez and Chally is both of them great at this in their own way.

an antidote to Chailly.......2002-05-12

Riccardo Chailly's recording of the original version of Ameriques was something that all Varese-lovers were hungrily waiting to hear. Featuring much extra brass and wind and such exotica as steamboat whistle and crow call, the score is sonically quite different to the 1927 revision in which also the central part of the work is substantially recomposed. I think most Varese-lovers would agree that the 1927 version of the score is superior to the the original: cutting so much material from the central section of the work, in particular many passages for off-stage brass, arguably gives the piece a more powerful sense of direction. Moreover, I find the Decca recording problematic in several respects: textures are often thick and muddied, internal detail often gets lost especially with some of Chailly's over-fast tempi, the basslines are often not clear enough and the percussion just don't register in all their incredible variety.
Boulez knows this score well. He knows that every detail needs to be heard. He knows that the power and sheer inexorability of the final section of the work (truly one the most AMAZING climaxes in all music) comes over best with a steady and very precise rhythm. The great crashes on timpani and bass drum are spectacular in Boulez' new recording; compare with Chailly and you'll hear what I mean; everything kind of gets lost in the stew. Boulez also gives the strings their prominence so we can finally appreciate all of Varese's innovations in his writing for these instruments.
In Arcana, Boulez's speeds are, once again, slightly broader than on his earlier recording. An emphasis on clarity and detail lets us hear the score anew- I welcome Boulez' less histrionic apparoach in this score- it's great it to not have the piece played like a 50's sci-fi soundtrack or The Rite of Spring part II.
Boulez' authority in Deserts cannot be questioned; maybe I'm a little ambivalent about the electronic interpolations being left out here, but I guess they are comprimised by the limitations of the master and therefore seriously 'date' the piece. Only Ionisation is probably better with Chailly- the ASKO Ensemble seem to relish the piece more than the percussionists of the CSO and there are some moments of questionable ensemble. (interestingly they were also there in Boulez' NYP recording) But stick with Boulez in the big works, he does them full justice.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Swirly Termination [Original recording remastered]

Weber: Chamber Music with Clarinet

Well You Can't, Now Can You

Roots, Branches and Leaves

Pacific UV

Very Best of [Original recording remastered] [Import]

The Wheels of a Dream

Weber: 2 Concertos; Concertino

Tri

Virtuoso No. 2

U2 - The Best of 1990-2000 [Deluxe Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD] [Import] [Limited Edition]

Uomini Addosso

Top Ten Latino, Vol. 9: 1990-1995

Blues Music blues-music-31

Forgotten Romance