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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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Varese in context,
By
This review is from: Boulez Conducts Varèse (Audio CD)
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.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do NOT miss this !,
By Patrik Lemberg (Tammisaari Finland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boulez Conducts Varèse (Audio CD)
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!
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sounds magnificent,
By
This review is from: Boulez Conducts Varèse (Audio CD)
I have Boulez's earlier Sony recording of the Varese but I haven't listened to it in a while so I can't compare it to this. I bought this mainly to hear what the Chicago Symphony sounds like these days (as it turns out, this was recorded in 1995 (Ameriques, Ionisation) and 1996 (Arcana, Deserts), so it isn't as current as I'd hoped). To me, what Varese is all about is the magnificent sounds that an orchestra can make and this recording delivers the goods. I guess the critics don't like this performance that much, but I don't sense a lack of excitement without other records I've heard over the years fresh in my mind, and I find the recording so luminous, dynamic, and crystal clear that I can't help recommending it without reserverations. After all, Varese IS about SOUNDS and this recording has them in spades.
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