The Notations [Import]

Track Listings

1. It's All Right (This Feeling)

2. Take It Slow

3. Bills Breakup Homes

4. Make Me Twice The Man

5. There I Go

6. Since You've Been Gone

7. It Only Hurts For A Little While

8. I'm Losing

9. Make Believin

10. Think Before You Stop

11. Superpeople

The Notations,The Notations,Japanese Import,Northern Soul,Pop,R&B,Soul

Tracks:

Pli Selon Pli
Le Visage Nuptial
Le Soleil Des Eaux
Figures, Doubles, Prismes
Rituel
Messagesquisse
Notations
Sonatine
Premiere Sonate
Derive
Memoriale
Dialogue De L'ombre Double
Cummings Ist Der Dichter

Customer Reviews:

A nice box set, but reissued at budget price in Warner's Apex line.......2006-09-06

This Erato box set of works by Pierre Boulez covers almost every phase of his career. With the exception of the "Notations" and "Messagequisse", conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the composer himself leads the BBC Symphony Orchestra or the Ensemble Intercontemporain in the large works, and two of his favourite performers tackle the smallest works. These recordings have been reissued in Warner Classics' budget line Apex, so they come quite cheaply if you look around.

I'm not too thrilled with "Pli selon pli" (1957-1962), Boulez's grand setting of Mallarme for soprano and orchestra, as it tends to drag on. Still, at least here and on the Sony disc he still conducts with a certain violence, while in his conducting of the recently revised version on a 2002 Deutsche Grammophon disc the piece just falls apart. The Sony recording with soprano Halina Lukomsa is the more agressive, but this recording with Phyllis Bryn-Julison is more subtle, and the final movement "Don" comes across more powerfully here.

The "Sonatine" for flute and piano and the "Piano Sonata No. 1" are among Boulez's earliest acknowledged works, dating from 1946. The "Sonatine" is inspired by Schoenberg's "Chamber Symphony op. 9" in form and by Berg in its serial material, while both the "Sonatine" and the Piano Sonata find inspiration in Webern and Schoenberg for the virtuoso and "delirious" piano parts. The "Sonatine" is a rather unexciting work, I'd call it juvenalia even if Boulez thinks it worthy of preservation. However, the Piano Sonata No. 1 is a rich piece which displays new sides of itself on every listen. I quite enjoy Pierre-Laurent Aimard's performance here, it has a savagery to it unlike the methodical touch of Jumppanen or the nimbleness of Biret.

"Le Visage nuptial" (1946, final version 1988-89) and "Le Soleil des eaux" (1947, final version 1965), settings of Rene Char for soprano, mezzo-soprano, choir and ensemble, really should be more widely known, since they are among Boulez's most accessible works with their Berg-like lushness and clear dramatic qualities. This collection is one of the few places to get them, which presents a good motivation to buy it. Ditto for "cummings ist der Dichter" for mixed choir and orchestra (1970), much more experimental (even with some aleatoric writing), but a beautifully savage work of modernism.

"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.

The "Notations" for orchestra--five so far (I-IV and VII)--expansions of twelve Webern-like piano miniatures written in 1945 while Boulez was still a student--are Boulez at his best, glittering textures, powerful crescendi, exciting glissandi; it's no wonder that many orchestras (such as the CSO) regularly play one or two of them to open their concerts.Still, I'm not too impressed with Barenboim's conducting, and I'd recommend that by Robertson on Naive. Having heard some bootleg recordings of Boulez conducting, I think Robertson does better than even the composer himself, there's such a rich clarity in his work, while other conductors muddy it up.

Several other pieces here are also from Boulez's post-"Eclat" period, when he has gone from strength to strength and development music of beautiful colours and compelling action. "Derive" for small ensemble (1984) is one such piece, but it was recently re-recorded on Deutsche Grammophon in the "20/21" series with the same ensemble and conductor, and even venue, but it sounds much more "alive" there than here. "Memoriale" for flute and eight instruments is an acoustic selection from "...explosante-fixe...", Boulez's great concerto for two flutes, MIDI flute, orchestra, and electronics. The concerto is wild, but this piece isn't terribly interesting in comparison. "Dialogue de l'ombre double" for clarinet and electronics (1982-85) is best listened to on the DG disc, where the soloist is again Alain Damiens, but the recording was treated with IRCAM's Spatialisateur software. "Messagequisse", a brief work for eight cellos, has been called Boulez's most insubstantial work, since it's almost over before it starts, but the recordings here and on DG are still fairly entertaining.

Many of the works here are minor, making it the modern-classical equivalent of a collection of "B-sides", but some of the music here is quite beautiful and abounding in interesting ideas. If you've already fallen in love with Boulez's music and have heard the major new recordings in DG's "20/21" series, you should move on to here.

Boulez-iana Fest.......2005-02-20

Here it is all in one place,primarily the young and middle period Boulez. There's nothing comparable to early Boulez, here you can sense like a shark smells blood of an open animal miles away,the fresh scent of the new dodecaphopnic means of composition, a new language to be practiced now that the darkest pages of European history are behind, a pathway now inevitable unalterable,we see this in the "Le visage nuptial, and the "Le Soleil Des Eaux" after text by Rene Char intensifies this period with such powerful quasi-political texts of human suffering and the glories of the imagination.The smaplings of texts and timbre married forever here. Boulez perhaps would revise the densely compact orchestration, but the full throttle of gutsy timbre is there, divisi strings, large arrays of metal percussion (A French trademark,shibboleths),impacted winds in fast filigree work. I tend to not like what Boulez does to the voice,and find myself simply enjoying the breathtaking orchestrations it(the voice)in Boulez's hands is hardly sensual for any length of time,and it has a one-dimensioanl aspect about it(simply compare the timbral pallette Berio had utilized at the same timein Epihanies for example) it is treated as simply another instrument as a vehicle, a conduit for text, and the delivery with large amounts of vibrato is horribly wrong-headed.

All these recordings are from other places, and you perhaps have already their presence in your collection. The"pli selon pli" is rather dated with Phyllis-Bryn Julson,joined in" Le visage. . " by Elizabeth Laurence with the BBC,Bouleaz first assignment there under Wm Glock's instigations. I would like to hear other recordings but there are none of "Le visage. . " and Les Soliel des Eaux".
Barenboim as conductor continues to be somewhat tedious with Boulez, it takes him forever to learn the modernist repertoire, and seldom programs ant pieces that would give him the performative technique he needs,any Webern or Schonberg, or Berg, or Ligeti,nothing (only Elliott Carter) who I suspect he thinks he comprehends with greater depth of cognition. Here the"Rituel" requires a conductor who can see the freedoms in the music, with the elaborate array of cueing devices and changes of tempi Boulez had built into this piece for his own indulgences, and performative sense. The "Notations" we have all heard now countless times, there is even Boulez in rehearsal with Vienna Phil that is quite educative and probing,more so than a performance with Barenboim.
Aimard plays the hell out of the First Piano Sonata, long a work in the shadow of the colossolly violent brutal Second Sonata, and indeterminate,elegant enigmatic Third Sonata. The First has two ideas; the sustained timbre and the pointillistic one, there are also intervallic magnetic forces that come to define regions in the work and points of a transgression to noise,in gradation; likewise the Flute Sonatine is cut from the same field,only if played well and violent, as it is here, the innovative modernity of the work has no equal, and really I tire to find another work for Flute anhd Piano that compares with the structural and aesthetic magnitude of this work, like I said early Boulez has fascinating moments. This is one of them.
Much later now "Derive" is a minor work for a motley collection of flute, clarinet, piano, vibes, violin and violoncello seems weak by comparison, it is difficult to play and this is perhaps the best recording with Boulez Ensemble Intercontemporain Players, likewise Memoriale, as (explosante/fix) is a process work for Flute and 8 Instruments when Boulez began thinking of the live dimension with the aid of the 4X Computer to be developed further in the bowels of IRCAM, as the haunting "Dialogue de l'ombre double, an antiphonal work with clarinet which to me is the last interesting work that mines the challenge of live/altered electronics; the Antiphones with Violin and Antiphonal electronics is quite tedious, tame and boring. The "Dialogue. . ." essentially captures the timbres of the Clarinet which can be quite introspective, private, as well as strident in the upper registers.It is after a text of Paul Claudel,and as we know literature has beeen an enternal nourishment within the Boulez aesthetic.

Average customer rating:

One experiment, and two wonderfully accessible pieces, including a wild flute concerto
explosante-fixe marvelously luminous,shimmering to the end,
Boulez's most powerful work

Boulez: ...Explosante-fixe...

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Boulez conducts Boulez
Boulez: Sur Incises/Messagesquisse/Anthèms 2
Pierre Boulez: Répons / Dialogue de l'Ombre Double (20/21 series)
Boulez: The Three Piano Sonatas
Boulez: Pli selon Pli

ASIN: B0007404HI
Release Date: 2005-02-08

Tracks:

I. Fantasque - Modere
II. Tres Vif
III. Assez Lent
IV. Rythmique
V. Doux Et Improvise
VI. Rapide
VII. Hieratique
VII. Modere Jusqu A Tres Vif
IX. Lointain - Calme
X. Mecanique Et Tres Sec
XI. Scintillant
XII. Lent - Puissant Et Apre
Chapitre I
Chapitre II (Pieces 1-2, Encarts 1-4, Textes 1-6)
Transitoire VII - Interstitiel 1

Customer Reviews:

One experiment, and two wonderfully accessible pieces, including a wild flute concerto.......2006-04-03

This Deutsche Grammophon disc--originally released in 1996 but reissued in the "Echo 20/21" series for Pierre Boulez's 80th birthday--contains three pieces by the great French composer, conductor, and theorist. The first two pieces are writen for piano, "Notations" is performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and on "Structures pour deux pianos, Livre II" Aimard is accompanied by Florent Boffard. The third, "...explosante-fixe..." is for solo MIDI flute (Sophier Cherrier), two flutes (Emmanuelle Orphele and Pierre-Andre Valade), electronics, and orchestra, here the Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Boulez himself.

"Notations" (1945) is a series of twelve piano miniatures written in the very early days of Boulez's career and is fact the earliest piece he has published. Initially neglected after their composition, two Notations (5 and 9) were quietly used in "Pli selon pli", and then the work was fully uncovered in 1970s, when the composer embarked on orchestrating them. While the orchestral versions--much longer and of course with a greater range of colour--are impressive, the original piano Notations are a delight as well. Each consists only of twelve measures, featuring a twelve-tone row in much the same fashion as the work of Anton Webern. In spite of certain formal commonalities, however, the pieces widely range from free (e.g. 1) to tightly rhythmic (4, 6), contemplative (3) to frenetic (2). If you like Gyorgy Ligeti's "Musica Ricercata", you'll find this quite enjoyable. Aimard's performance here is so confident and poised, the man is a titan of contemporary piano repertoire.

"Structures, Livre II" (1956-61) shows that a decade later Boulez had come out from Webern's shadow and was expanding serialism with original contributions. Boulez had caught John Cage's fascination with musical chance operations, and so much of the material is left to the discretion of the performer (a feature shared by his Piano Sonata No. 3 of the same era). What is obligatory, however, is rigidly notated; the piece features serialisation of all elements, rhythm and dynamics too, not just pitch. Boulez even specifies the exact height of the pedal. Thus, the work is a strange combination of freedom and severity. This is not Boulez at his most accessible: the music of the two pianos is interrelated, but in not so charming a fashion as Stockhausen acheived in his "Gruppen" for three orchestras. For a more entertaining example of Boulez's thought during the mid-1950s, I'd recommend the piano sonata.

"...explosante-fixe..." (1991-93), taking its title from a line in Andre Breton's NADJA, was first conceived in the early 1970s when Boulez oversaw the founding of IRCAM and was interested in how cooperation between electronic technicians and composers might serve music. However, the state of the technology didn't satisfy Boulez at the time, and the work was finally presented anew twenty years later. In this piece, one of Boulez's most eerie and colourful, the concerto concept is vastly expanded through electronics: one MIDI flute performs great feats of sound high above the capabilities of the other instruments, while two normal flutes double its acrobatics in imperfect imitation and an orchestra fills out the sound. The work has an elegant formal scheme: it begins with two "transitory" sections derived from elementary material, and the elementary material is finally presented at the end, so that the piece seems to go from a wide cloud to a point. In between, there are two electronic interstitial passages. Yet, this piece requires no real formal understanding of musicology, it just sounds great. The early wall of sound gives way to, as it is often describes, a house-of-mirrors, which in turn leads to a liberation of all elements with thundering percussion and roaring violin, and the final "Originel" is shy and innocent, As usual, the Ensemble Intercontemporain give a flawless performance and show themselves as the premier interpreters of Boulez's work.

All in all, "...explosante-fixe..." is certainly the most accessible piece Boulez has written and so this is disc a fine introduction to his soundworld. Established fans will love this reading of the piano pieces.

explosante-fixe marvelously luminous,shimmering to the end,.......2005-04-19

There are numerous recordings now of these "Notations",Aimard plays them with the right gesture you come to hear the "spectres" of the "First Sonata" is some the exposed brutal lines; the pointillism, and fast as possible lines,althgough this from a young composer within occupied Paris.The listening experience is indeed transitory,good for students of the new and are like finding 'seeds' in an Egyptian tomb and planting them to get now Boulez's orchestral "Notations".

If you know the "First Book" of "structures" the "Livre II" is more sophisticated,overdetermined, Stockhausen once quipped that Boulez places too many details in his music unneccessarily, well he may; it is the results that count. I find this "Livre" II" not as open as the first, the exposed lines the reiteration of the 12 tone in the "Livre I" was exciting,the crossing, and antiphonal diagonals, the dialogue of one piano to the other was explited by Boulez, there is that as well here in "Livre II" but not as extreme; although there is not that much time that separates the two books. But the "First Book" utilized electronic music thinking,of distributions of density, register, texture. I recall the old Kontarsky Brothers recording was/is definitive in many respects; Ligeti even did an exhaustive analysis of the "First Book" "structures" charting the way the 12 unfolded in seemingly endlees arrays, configurations,visiting all the registers of the piano,yet keeping a focus where you can distinguish the various layers, the :Livre II: has more convolutions at work and more direct,the continuously moving,(32nd-64th notes) upper register lines is like a clique now in the modern piano as Ferneyhough and Finnissy's music exhibit lots of these ideas.
Yes cannot agree more with the other review "explosante-fixe" is a primary work with shimmering,luminous moments well this is an important dimension to Boulez' s aesthetic strategy,luike his earlier "Eclat" the almost floating "magical" like timbres, fast furious yet incredibly controlled you never sense any moment has an independence from its origin, and Boulez we find here as well has developed a new language with at times simple iterative patterns, but allowing the solo moments to come forward, wonderful lyricism as well in the flutes, compelling actually, for it is non-pointillistic lines in the flutes,many times inhabiting the rich lower regions of the flutes, perhaps the paradigm of late capital (as Jameson said someplace) renders one's creativity to contract, to pull in and find accessible points, Boulez really did that later with then "Sur Incises" and "Anthemes" both works when placed alongside "explosante-fixe" seem like incidental passing "etudes".
Here however I think "explosante-fixe" is overly long, the ending moments(last 10 minutes) all seem gratuitous,like Boulez is searching for something that is not really there,making the flute repeat material(s) already heard;it makes the piece heavier then which is not the premise of the work,in all the full "tutti" punctuations, the swells of volumes with the flute above,like a lost soul.And the flute timbral with incessant iterative presence grows boring quickly, you want to savor the flute timbre, and you do that by contrast variation and simply not hearing it continuously. Boulez however keeps a luminous timbral quality throughout,clean and threadbare that is the electronics at work.The electronic moment are not clique-ish at all,but function well that was the IRCAM philosophy to make electronics,computer systems to function in conjunction with music,the creator but separate as well, to find a :meeting place:,which they did in Paris,I like the compact sound he gets here as well,making the various flutes come out from it,yet still being blended into the whole,the body of timbre, nothing really that is independent as the flutes seems to not dominate the proceedings, yet this is a quasi-post-modern concerto,well! redefined,. Wonderful cover art,finding the sense of movement,sparked forward into an unknown.

Boulez's most powerful work.......2005-03-20

This is a reissue in the DG 20/21 Echo series of the disc which was originally released in 1996, with excellent improved artwork. "...explosante-fixe..." is the highlight, without question the most powerful of all of Boulez's compositions. For me, this is the reward for persevering through several of his less compelling pieces until finally hearing it! (This is a good year to hear Boulez -- DG is releasing a slew of new recordings in honor of his 80th birthday.)

I was confused as to its place in the Boulez chronology. Here's why -- "explosante," an open-ended work, was apparently the first composition Boulez worked on at IRCAM in the early 1970s. In the form presented here, though, "explosante" was finalized a decade after "Repons," which was finalized in 1984, but "explosante" was recorded first, in 1994, while "Repons" wasn't recorded and released on disc until 1998. Clear now?

I have to say I am underwhelmed by "Repons" (see my 7/13/01 review), but "...explasante-fixe..." marks a tremendous advance over the earlier work. While "Repons" is shimmery and Debussian, "explosante" is quite forceful, coming closer to sounding like Xenakis than anything else Boulez has done. An electro-acoustic work featuring the midi flute of Sophie Cherrier along with two more flutes and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the form is three instrumental movements separated by two electronic interludes (interstitiel). It's ironic, perhaps, that when Boulez decides to let fly with his most powerful work he does it with a flute piece, but this is no ordinary flute -- the electronic amplification makes it possible for Cherrier to cut through even the densest of passages. The IRCAM technology is utilized to its fullest.

The two piano pieces are quite fine as well. "Notations," Boulez's earliest composition, sounds very much like Schoenberg and Webern, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard performs them fantastically. "Structures II" is tougher (though not as tough as the Piano Sonata No. 2 -- check out Pollini's ferocious recording for instance), a duo played by Aimard and Florent Boffard, but on this disc it is a perfect segue from the introverted "Notations" to the wild energy of "explosante."

Boulez: Sonata for piano No3; Barraque: Piano Sonata

Average customer rating:

Piano labyrinths,rarefied,structural challenges,
New life for mid-century 12-tone music.
Chens brings Barraque's Sonata to life.
Best current recording of the Barraque Piano Sonata

Boulez: Sonata for piano No3; Barraque: Piano Sonata

Manufacturer: Telos Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DFLQ
Release Date: 1998-11-01

Tracks:

Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 1. Fantastique - Modere
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 2. Tres vif
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 3. Assez lent
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 4. Rythmique
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 5. Doux et improvise
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 6. Rapide
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 7. Hieratique
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 8. Modere juasqu'a tres vif
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 9. Lointain - Calme
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 10. Mecanique et tres sec
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 11. Scintillant
Douze Notations pour piano (1995): 12. Lent - Puissant et e
Sonate pour piano (1950-1952): 13. Tres rapide
Sonate pour piano (1950-1952): 14. Lent
Troisieme sonate pour piano (1956- 57) - 1 Trope: 15. Texte
Troisieme sonate pour piano (1956- 57) - 1 Trope: 16. Parenthese
Troisieme sonate pour piano (1956- 57) - 1 Trope: 17. Commentaire
Troisieme sonate pour piano (1956- 57) - 1 Trope: 18. Glose
Troisieme sonate pour piano (1956- 57) - 1 Trope: 19. II Miroir

Customer Reviews:

Piano labyrinths,rarefied,structural challenges,.......2001-07-25

In one of the three biographies on Michel Foucault, he relates a tale of Boulez, Barraque and Foucault all meeting in some castle for a concert where their music was to be played.Barraque and Foucault remained friends and shared intellectual and aesthetic pursuits until Barraque untimely death.. Barraque as this 'Sonata' admirably reflects was interested in extremes of expression,and the current buzz in France in the Fifties was this sensibility, as the theatre of cruelty of Antonin Artaud and the literature of Samuel Beckett, the rationalism of the irrational. I don't quite agree that the Barraque Sonata is a masterwork of this century, or the last one, but within the context of the set of aesthetic trajectories nurtured by European creativity at that time, Barraque was in the conceptual pit,slugging away. Andre Hodier's old book on French contemporary music is the first and really the only discussion of Barraque. What is significant of this 'Sonata' for its times was the retrogressive perspective,and its length. Beethoven was Barraque's creative icon,as opposed to the Schoenberg School for Boulez and the post war avant-garde. Barraque seemed to think that the rigours of serial music needed to contain this sense of durationally large architectural forms. The 'Sonata' works,its length and gestures, because it is primarily rhythmically charged. Always the intuitive ends is what saves what can be pedantic creative agendas. The work is in two large movements one fast, the other slow, but there are necessarily gradations within each movement of speeding up or slowing down. Barraque as well came to serialism with his own sense,forgetting about the tyranny of the interval, where only dissonance was to be exploited. Here we hear open fifths, and relatively wonderfullly pleasant sounding timbres. Hearing/Encountering/Appraising then the Boulez 'Third Sonata', is like having a bucket of ice water thrown over your head. For the 'Third' accelerates the challenge although even today it is a difficult work to encounter. It is not as lyrically directional or on its surface gesturally predictable as the 'First' or 'Second' Sonatas. Boulez here clearly wanted to mark/succomb and conquer new structural territories. The buzz of "Indeterminacy" was in the air,of open forms, the mobiles of Alexander Calder and with the freshness of John Cage coming to Europe in the early Fifties to loosen up the sometimes(most of the times) tyrannical mindsets of these post- war post- serialists as Stockhausen and Boulez harbored was quite important. Theodor Adorno always thought they were too serious,too much concerned with the surface of their art without looking out creating some worldview to be utilized in their music.,too much concerned pure technique rather than philosophic/social substance.The Third Sonata which Boulez explains in his position paper included in "Orientations", "Sonata, What do you want from me?", "Sonate, que me veux-tu?",pages 143-54, is good start if you want to understand the excitement of these newly found structural departures. And also Boulez's lifelong affinity and inspiration he searched for from Mallarme,the concept of the book, that every part of a book should be enriched by its preceeding encounters, concepts you can quite literally devote ones life to. Here Chen plays wonderfully sensitive to Boulez's deep musicianship and structural vision, the elegance,and rarefied refinement,almost surreal, but also the open brutality, and the vigorously new approach toward exploiting the resonant physical features of the piano, as piano harmonics, that's where you depress tones silently then striking violently others thereby enleashing the sympathetic overtone vibrations. Also the utilizations of all the piano pedals to alter the timbral resonance, is here incorporated into Boulez structures.Tristan Murail, the younger generation French IRCAM composer has further developed these resonant piano techniques se his piano solo 'Terratoires De l'Oubli'. The structure of the Boulez work itself has metamorphosized into varying states in incompletion since the time it was first written in the late Fifties. But the original plan was five movements, or Boulez calls them formatives, (formants in French), and were 1. Antiphonie; 2 Trope; 3. Constellation; 4.Strophe; 5 Sequence;, Constellation being the longest in duration here. Each piece of formant,or movement allows the possibilities of choice, like being given a map to direct your own destinations. The first complete performance of this work was some ten hears later by Boulez himself at Darmstadt in September,1967. Here Chen adopts,fashions the 'Trope' movementwhihc is the second movement(formative) (formant) which comprises four sections, 'Texte', 'Parenthese', 'Commentaire', and 'Glose'. The only other order,is reversing 'Glose' with 'Constellation' which you'll find in the Charles Rosen and Claude Helffer earlier recordings.'Miroir' then follows this.Claude Helffer also includes formant #3,which is about 11 n a half minutes and consists of other materials, 'Points, Blocs, Points 2, Blocs 2' The titles are extracted from medeival sensibility of discourse and duration,and each movement of the movwement(Formatives) here has self-contained like features. 'Texte' is more one-dimensional monodic,with a serial like cantus firmus, 'Parenthese', is a slow tempo but is interrupted by parenthesis of fragments of music Boulez writes in boxes within the music line or system. 'Glose' as well is slow but undergoes frequent gradations of accelerations. This has been the Boulez approach of the dialectic between relatively fixed musical structures, and interruptions of those via complex means and techniques. His 'Repons', and his conducting of Mahler retains/contains similar approaches to form, interpretation and approach. The 'Third Sonata' also retains a musical sense of elegance structurally and interms of its extended pallette of timbres. It is still difficult listening.

The earlier student 'Notations' has numerous recordings,Stephan McCallum is one I prefer,but Chen is right on the money here as well exposing the space threadbare piano lines of the young visionary composer. 'Notations' has above all documentary value,in the realizations of the odyssey of the Boulez's creative lifeworld.As the agricultural seeds known to be buried with Egyptian priests,when some centuries later when they discovered the seeds they still brought something to the surface, as similarly the orchestral realizations of Notations by Boulez are far more a greater conception.

New life for mid-century 12-tone music........2000-01-05

Pianist Chen has really breathed new life into these classics of mid-century serialism. Her realizations are clear, precise, yet expressive. The realization of the Boulez Third is just as persuasive as the superb recording by Idil Biret on Naxos. I am glad that I have her realization of the Barraque Sonata...it really made a powerful impression on my first listen. I do hope she (Chen) will continue her superb realizations of other mid-century classics such as these.

Chens brings Barraque's Sonata to life........1999-05-15

I want to thank Marin County, CA for his advice about the Chen rendition of the Sonata. I already had the CPO complete Barraque, which has a great realization of the Mort de Virgile, but the Sonata on that disc had left me cold. Chen's version brings it to life, especially in the fast first movement. The proper recording can make all the difference. I found this to be so with Aleck Karis's recording of Elliott Carter's great Night Fantasies, which I think much better than Charles Rosen's version. Barraque's Sonata and Carter's Night Fantasies are, I think, the two greatest works for solo piano in the second half-century, and the greatest long solo piano works (not broken up into short, separate sections, like Schoenberg's Suite) since Ives' great Concord Sonata.

Best current recording of the Barraque Piano Sonata.......1998-12-10

Although I don't claim to have an expert opinion on Jean Barraque's celebrated ( in avant garde circles ) piano sonata, having only listened to the piece four separate times, I would like to recommend Pi-hsien Chen's recording as being far superior to the version included in the otherwise excellent CPO label release of Barraque's complete works. First, Ms. Chen's version is much closer to the composer's estimate of duration, a crucially important point. Given the abstract nature of this immense work, any unnecessary prolongation makes the musical "argument" ( already abstract ) harder to discern. Mr. Litwin's version is a full 14 minutes past the composer's indication of c. 40 minutes ( Ms. Chen's version is 45' ). Secondly, I happened to appreciate Ms. Chen's fuller application of dynamic contrasts; whether this follows Barraque's intentions more closely or not I can't say ( I don't have the score ), however, it did add to the listening experience. For those who appreciate the music of Carter, Stockhausen and Boulez, I would recommend this recording without reserve.

Average customer rating:

Super People
Notations
Manufacturer: Seque
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | R&B | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000025AJY
Release Date: 1999-09-20

Tracks:

It's All Right (This Feeling)
Take It Slow
I'm Losing
Make Me Twice The Man
There I Go
Since You've Been Gone
It Only Hurts For A Little While
Bills Break Up Homes
Make Believin'
Think Before You Stop
Superpeople
The Chopper (Previously Unissued)

Album Description

The first definitive collection for this Chicago soul quartet's '70s recordings for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label. Contains their entire rare 1976 LP 'Notations', plus two bonus tracks, the non-album funk classic 'Super People' & the previously unissued track 'The Chopper'. 12 tracks total, all remastered from Curtom's original master tapes. Also contains a full color foldout booklet. 1999 release.

Wien Modern: Works by György Ligeti (Atmosphères, Lontano) / Luigi Nono (Liebeslied) / Pierre Boulez (Notations I-IV) / Wolfgang Rihm (Départ)

Average customer rating:

Excellent recordings of modern works
Your Voice Says Nono, but Your Eyes Say Yesyes.
Spectacular performances of unusual repertoire

Wien Modern: Works by György Ligeti (Atmosphères, Lontano) / Luigi Nono (Liebeslied) / Pierre Boulez (Notations I-IV) / Wolfgang Rihm (Départ)
Vienna Youth Choir , Vienna Philharmonic , and Claudio Abbado (Conductor)
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard

ASIN: B00000E4G8
Release Date: 2005-03-21

Tracks:

Dart (1988) (For Mixed Chorus, Speaking Chorus And 22 Players)
Atmosphes
Lontano (1967) (For Large Orchestra)
Liebeslied (1954) (For Mixed Chorus And Instruments)
Fantasque - Mod
Rythmique
Tr Mod
Tr Vif

Customer Reviews:

Excellent recordings of modern works.......2007-07-25

Ligeti's 'Atmospheres' was used in the score of 2001. It is an absolute wall of sound, requiring all the string players to play different notes at once. 'Lontano' has a similar feel and is just as extraordinarily played here. Rihm's 'Depart' is the most avant-garde work on the disc, making use of random percussion effects over the choir. The excellent audio quality is most apparent on this work. Nono's 'Liebeslied' is a fine piece, and Boulez's exciting orchestrations of his Notations round off the disc. It could certainly stand to be longer (running time is about 46 minutes), but for what it represents, this is an excellent CD.
Also recommended: The Ligeti Project I: Melodien / Chamber Concerto / Piano Concerto / Mysteries of the Macabre - Schönberg Ensemble / ASKO Ensemble / Reinbert de Leeuw

Your Voice Says Nono, but Your Eyes Say Yesyes........2007-02-08

Consider the case of the bitter tasters. Some people have a gene coding for a specific tastebud receptor, allowing them to get a pungent bitterness from some foods, whereas others do not. Consider the disagreement between a taster and non-taster of such a substance. The taster argues it's cleary disgusting, and the non-taster finds it not bad at all. Who's right?

Our gut instinct is to say neither is right--this is merely a matter of taste, literally, in which there are no right answers. Now consider the possibility that some people have a gene that codes for liking pointilistic, avant garde works such as (some of) these, and some do not. If we disagree on the worth of these pieces, is it simply a matter of taste, in which no right may obtain? Perhaps it is.

Now consider the case of the two-headed grizzly bear across the room. I don't see it, and yet you do. You insist that there is a grizzly bear over there and it's got a head and then another one. Wait, wait, I protest; perhaps you simply have a gene that codes for seeing grizzly bears and I do not have that gene. "The presence of that grizzly bear is simply a matter of taste. And there are no right answers in such things. Thus to say the grizzly bear is there is silly--at most you see a grizzly bear, but that proves nothing. Proves about much as my sensation of bitterness on tasting some things."

Clearly, there must be some meaningful distinction among this gradient. I'm not sure where it is, but I'm going to place it between the sound and the taste. Perhaps there is no such gene for pointilism--and that is the difference. Perhaps it is something much more subtle. But a distinction must exist.

This is all to say, I don't much care for the Rihm here. Maybe with more listenings I will, but this kind of gestural (apparent) randomness does nothing for me at present. Ultimately, I'll have to decide if that preference is simply a matter of taste, or some real tracking of artistic quality. I don't know now.

But I will say the Boulez is excellent, and Atmospheres has its moment. The Nono is surprisingly charming. And no matter the quality of the pieces, Abbado's performance is impeccable. One's only complaint is the chorus of coughs the live audience interjects during the hushed beginning of track 2.

Spectacular performances of unusual repertoire.......2004-07-02

The most familiar works on this terrific recording are probably the two Ligeti pieces, "Atmospheres" and "Lontano." With remarkable sensitivity and subtlety, Claudio Abbado creates sheer magic out of these other-worldly scores. As but one example, listen to the end of "Atmospheres" as the piece gently fades out with the Vienna Philharmonic creating waves of gorgeous, ethereal harmonics.

This is one of the best versions of Boulez's "Notations" -- on par with the composer's own recording. The orchestra mines all the color Boulez asks for in a really exciting performance. The unusual Rihm and Nono works are also quite marvelous, and all the more valuable for being preserved in readings of such high quality -- and the Vienna Youth Choir sounds splendid.

Throughout the recording, the musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic sound completely comfortable -- as if they play these pieces every week, with a technical assurance that will grab your ears immediately. The sound quality is excellent, especially given that the program was culled from live performances. This is an unusual recording for Abbado, and can't be recommended highly enough for those curious about the repertoire.

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps, Debussy: La Mer, Boulez: Notations VII

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Some flaws..
Amazing
Pretty Amazing
Surprising

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps, Debussy: La Mer, Boulez: Notations VII

Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000059QW2
Release Date: 2001-11-06

Tracks:

Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps: Premiere Partie: L'Adoration De La Terre
Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps: Deuxieme Partie: Le Sacrifice
Debussy: La Mer-Trois Esquisses Symphoniques: De L'Aube A Midi Sur La Mer
Debussy: La Mer-Trois Esquisses Symphoniques: Jeux De Vagues
Debussy: La Mer-Trois Esquisses Symphoniques: Dialogue Du Vent Et De La Mer
Boulez: Notations VII

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This selection of 20th-century works is perfectly designed to display a virtuoso orchestra in all its glory. The music glows and glitters with a myriad colors, exploits every imaginable instrumental effect, and offers many solo opportunities to all the principal string and wind players. The program also requires a virtuoso conductor, especially the Stravinsky, with its extraordinary, previously unprecedented rhythmic irregularities, its massed sonorities, its cumulative sense of tension, and its driving, pent-up energy that explodes intermittently. No wonder the 1913 Paris premiere of Printemps caused the most famous riot in musical history and spread Stravinsky's name across the world. Barenboim's performance has enormous sweep and a sort of controlled wildness, with tremendously exciting rhythmic incisiveness, great crashing climaxes, and wonderful wind playing in the lyrical parts.

The Debussy, based on fond recollections of childhood summers the composer spent at the seaside, is all color: three almost visual evocations of the glittering water, the sparkling play of the waves and the wind, the glowing sky, and the final glorious sunrise with the violins shimmering above grand brass sonorities. The Boulez is also full of color effects, with glassy, thin sounds, but it seems more like an abstract painting. Composed when he was 21, it was part of a set of 12 very brief piano pieces, which he expanded and orchestrated 30 years later; this one was commissioned and premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1999. Based on short figures and motives, it is called "Hiératique" and described as formal and stylized; the composer asks that it be played slowly and steadily, but not rigidly. The playing throughout is fabulous. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Some flaws.........2006-02-02

I always find it amazing that record companies, in this case Teldec, don't take the little extra effort to turn a good product into a great one. In this case their error was to not split The Rite of Spring into 11 tracks for each of the subparts like everyone has done (this recording has only two for each of the two main parts) and include liner notes that explain each of the sections. For collectors that already have other versions this may not be a problem, but for novices that are trying to study the music, the omission is unacceptable. Also, the liner notes stink--2 pages total for the 3 pieces and then 3 pages on Barenboim!

Amazing.......2004-06-16

Le Sacre Du Printemps is one of my favorite pieces. I have four different recordings of it, and none of them come close to the all around greatness of this recording. This was the last recording that I purchased out of the four, and I feel no need to ever purchase another version. Every time I listen to this recording, I get goosebumps as if I was watching it live. And I have seen it live, (with the CSO and Barenboim conducting) and the recording really captures the live performance spirit. When I listen to it, I can see the strings' violent downbows at the beginning of "Dances of the Young Girls," the quick fingers of the woodwinds playing the fast scales, the trombones swiftly moving their slides, and the timpanists arms giving powerful hits on the drum in the 11/4 bar. It's an amazing version of the piece, and by far one of the best.

But of course, don't leave out La Mer and Notations VII. Both are extremely well played, and also wonderful pieces. Le Sacre Du Printemps is most definetly the highlight of this CD, though.

Pretty Amazing.......2002-12-31

For those unfamiliar with Barenboim's conducting, he seems to have a reputation for leaving issues like entrances and accuracy of rhythm for the players to deal with. In short, ensemble precision typically is not a trademark of his, which makes the performances on this CD all the more shocking. Who would expect the Rite of Spring, of all things, to sound so rhythmic, clear, and powerful under Barenboim? He has the Chicago Symphony playing with incredible tightness and security in this remarkably difficult work. The various climaxes are full of fire, as well.

Both La Mer and Boulez's Notations VII get refined playing also, even though there's a certain heaviness about the La Mer that takes away slightly from some of the atmospheric and shimmering effects of the piece. Overall, a great (and surprising) disc, supported by Teldec's terrific sonics.

Surprising.......2002-01-01

I had fairly low expectations about Barenboim's interpretation of the Rite and La Mer, but I was very wrong. This is an outstanding Rite and, I believe, one of the very best La Mers. I have never heard such clarity to the woodwinds in the Rite particularly in the Glorification of the Ancestors and the Fertility Dance. Barenboim brings a kind of luxuriant radiance to the work that has only been subtly hinted at in other performances. This is a Rite with ecstasy. Like so many other performances, this one lags in the final section, because it lacks sufficient forward momentum and orchestral clarity. The only performance that pulls this off perfectly is that of Zander, which is a must buy.
This La Mer is powerfully romantic and it simply never disappoints or falters. It does have just a bit of schmaltz in the last section, but it expresses the great majesty of the sea as powerfully as any performance I am familiar with and I know many. I recommend this CD highly.

Boulez: Notations; Figures-Doubles-Prismes; Rituel

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Robertson steps up to the podium and reveals a splendid take on Boulez's music
The pupil outshines his master in a superb Rituel

Boulez: Notations; Figures-Doubles-Prismes; Rituel

Manufacturer: Disques Montaigne
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000AC8L4
Release Date: 2003-07-15

Customer Reviews:

Robertson steps up to the podium and reveals a splendid take on Boulez's music.......2006-09-03

On this Naive disc, David Robertson conducts the Orchestre National de Lyon in seven pieces by Pierre Boulez. Most of Boulez's music has been conducted by the composer himself, but here the old master lets a younger generation tackle his music. The result is highly satisfying.

The first piece here chronologically is one of Boulez's most problematic. "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, with nothing like the glittering colours of his earlier piece "Pli selon pli" or his next one "Eclat", but it does reveal a more confident pacing and powerful sense of motion that was missing from his rather lethargic 1950s works. A clear dramatic arc, however, it does not have. 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.

The notion of dividing the ensemble up continues with "Rituel" for orchestra in eight groups (1974/75), but here only each group is heard at a time for most of the work, and Boulez calls it "large-scale chamber music". The piece was written in memory of Bruno Maderna, a Darmstadt figure who is nearly forgotten now but who was a close friend and inspiration to many composers who came of age in the 1950s. With its solemn pace and sad, mournful tones, the piece serves as a strong antidote to that usual conservative accusation that serialism "can't communicate anything." This is Boulez's vastest work in terms of percussion, with a large amount of exotic drums, cymbals, bells, wood blocks, and so forth on the stage. Its fifteen sections consist of highly mobile even-numbered intonations, unconducted after Boulez signals their starting points, contrasted with strict conducted responses. Over the course of the work, we move from one orchestral group to another, exploring all of its timbres even though the melodic material is intentionally limited to create a feeling of sorrow. I'm familiar with Boulez's reading of the piece on a Sony disc, and I'm happy to say Robertson conducts the piece just as well.

In the second half of the 1970s Boulez wrote a brief piece for cello ensemble called "Messagesquisse" and announced his attention to expand it into a concerto for orchestra. What he came up with instead starting in 1980 was a tremendous surprise, and ended up being his most frequently-performed set of works: the "Notations" for orchestra. Five so far (I-IV and VII) they are based on twelve Webern-like piano miniatures written in 1945 while Boulez was still a student. The music was tremendously expanded in orchestration, but always retains the original at its heart. One has said of the orchestrations that it was almost as if Boulez looked at the original score with a magnifying glass and discovered more notes. The frenetic "Notations II" was only 30 seconds long in the piano original, but in orchestration was expanded to four times that length, and involves every single player in the orchestra in nearly every single barline. Much of the playing can't be immediately noticed by the audience, but serves to thicken the overall texture and power of the ensemble. Pieces I and VII are the most subtle, where the landscape of the music gradually changes on the surface, but if one listens more deeply, dozens of busy operations are at work like tadpoles in a tranquil stream.

The "Notations" are Boulez at his best, glittering textures, powerful crescendi, exciting glissandi; it's no wonder that many orchestras (such as the CSO) regularly play one or two of them to open their concerts. I was pleased that Robertson conducts them better than Barenboim, who appears on two previous recordings of the pieces. But after hearing a few bootleg recordings of Boulez leading various ensemble, I think that Robertson conducts them even better than the composer himself. Individual elements can be heard here much more clearly, and there's never any sense of muddiness.

The liner notes consist of an interview of Boulez and Robertson by Jean-Pierre Derrien. It's a very friendly introduction to the concepts behind the work and the challenges they pose for a conduction. An analysis, however, it is not, and those interested in the complex organization of "Rituel" would do well to pick up Dominique Jameux's study of Boulez and his music.

If I don't rate this five stars, it's only because my favourite works by Boulez are "Eclat/Multiples" (on a mid-price Sony disc everyone should get), and "Repons", "Sur Incises" and "...explosante-fixe..." (all on DG). Still, the three pieces here are worth hearing, even if "Figures-Doubles-Prismes" still hasn't been resolved.

The pupil outshines his master in a superb Rituel.......2006-07-11

In many ways, this is a very well-planned recording, as it features three works by Pierre Boulez, conducted by his American protégé David Robertson with the French orchestra he directed for four years, the Orchestre National de Lyon.

The disc begins with perhaps Boulez's best-known orchestral work, Rituel in memoriam Maderna, written after the death of the Italian composer-conductor who had been a father figure to Boulez and several other post-war modernists. This was the first Boulez work I heard, and it made an immediate impact on me that probably has not been equalled by any of the Boulez that I have heard subsequently: its directness of expression, emotional depth, easily comprehensible form and concentration on melody perhaps make it the most likely of Boulez's works to enter the orchestral repertoire. Over around twenty-five minutes of musical call-and-response, a melody is elaborated against a backdrop of slightly irregular percussion, the melody moving from a single oboe to larger and larger orchestral groups, until after the climax this process is reversed, and the music returns to where it began. This work has been recorded several times before, perhaps most memorably by the composer himself shortly after its composition, but I find this recording outshines both the composer's and the other readings I've heard (Barenboim, Zender). Robertson's gentle pace, tenderly shaped phrasing and eye for detail make this a powerful and emotionally intense experience and remind one that there is more to Boulez than his "iceman" image. (It would be interesting to hear Boulez record this work again--judging by his recent rerecording of Le Marteau sans maitre I suspect that a contemporary Boulez interpretation would be very similar to Robertson's.)

The next five works, from Boulez's orchestral Notations series, have a typically complicated gestation. As a teenage composition student, Boulez had written twelve short piano pieces named Notations, which were lost for many years before being rediscovered. Many years later, he started to expand each of these pieces into larger works for orchestra: I-IV appeared in 1980, VII in 1998, and more are promised (though, typically, much-delayed). The Notations so far completed tend to alternate between two styles: one rather dreamy, detailed, floating slowly between harmonies (I, III and VII) and the other fiercely violent, rhythmic and sharply accented (II and IV). The order of performance of individual pieces is left up to the conductor, though for the first four pieces the order I-IV-III-II seems to have become commonplace: Robertson adds in the more recent VII between I and IV, which makes musical and logical sense, and indeed he is particularly strong in the slower works, his unhurried approach bringing out both their warmth and the considerable detail in the writing. II and IV fare slightly less well: though under Robertson they are vigorous and rhythmic, they cannot match Abbado's earlier live recording (of I-IV) on his Wien Modern disc for sheer virtuosic energy and élan.

The closing work on the disc, Figures-Doubles-Prismes, is less essential Boulez than what has gone before. A sort of concerto for orchestra, it lacks both the sheer beauty of Rituel and the energy of Notations II and IV, though there are many fascinating details in it. Here, Robertson is in competition with the composer's own recording, and his brisk, uncomplicated approach is a contrast to Boulez's rather slower reading. I couldn't really pick a favourite between the two, though perhaps the composer's reading is slightly more characterful.

This disc can be warmly recommended for an outstanding performance of Rituel and for the best complete Notations available: fine performances of works which might well surprise those who have so far not warmed to Boulez's music.

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LOST SOUL OLDIES VOL. 12

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B000ERH4N0

Product Description

19 TRACKS

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One of the great monuments of post-war modernism

Boulez: Marteau Sans Maitres Notations
Boulez , and Ensemble Intercontemporian
Manufacturer: Sbme Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000065EQ8
Release Date: 2002-11-04

Tracks:

Avant "L'artisanat Furieux"
Commentaire I De "Bourreaux De Solitude"
"I'artisanat Furieux"
Commentaire Ii De "Boureaux De Solitude"
"Bel Edifice Et Les Pressentiments",Version Premiere
"Bourreaux De Solitude"
Apres "L'artisanat Curieux"
Commentaire Iii De "Bourreaux De Solitude"
"Bel Edifice Et Les Pressentiments", Double
Notations Pour Piano Pi-Hsien, Piano
Structures Pour Deux Pianos, Livre Ii Pi-Hsien & Bernhard Wambach, Piano

Album Details

Grand Repertoire Series.

Customer Reviews:

One of the great monuments of post-war modernism.......2003-12-02

It's perhaps astonishing to realise that Pierre Boulez started work on Le Marteau sans maitre exactly half a century ago. This piece has so often been identified as its composer's masterpiece that it's perhaps easy to forget how young he was when he wrote it--and also how rarely it is performed these days.

Marteau is sort-of-song cycle based around three poems by the French surrealist Rene Char that combine a directness of imagery with a somewhat obscure overall meaning. Boulez, though, expands these three poems into nine movements overall: L'Artisanat furieux (movement 3) also has a double-speed prologue (movement 1) and a double-speed epilogue (movement 7), Bourreaux de solitude (movement 6) has three 'commentaries' (movements 2, 4, and 8) and Bel Edifice et les pressentiments (movement 5) is repeated in an extended form that also includes material from other parts of the work (movement 9).

Just as the structure of the work is distinctive, so is its instrumentation, which very strongly focuses on the alto register. The singer is a mezzo-soprano, accompanied by varying combinations of alto flute, viola, guitar, vibraphone, xylorimba and percussion. This means that much of the musical argument is compressed into a short range of about two octaves, and that ears may have to adjust to the lack of a true bass anywhere in the work. On the other hand, it helps Boulez create crystal clear, shimmering sonorities, and incredibly detailed counterpoint.

Ultimately, though, the question that really matters is: Is it any good? My answer has to be a categorical yes. It certainly does sound very much of its time, but the musical writing is of such a level of detail, delicacy and beauty that it transcends questions of style. Sure, this isn't the work to convince haters of atonal music to change their mind, but for those who already love musical modernism, this is a reminder that works hailed as historically significant do sometimes live up to their billing.

This is the last of Boulez's four recordings, and inevitably reflects the composer's preoccupations when he made it (1985). Thus we get a much smoother, more delicate, less aggressive and rough-edged interpretation than his early performances. This very much ties the work in with the atonal post-Debussian language that Boulez has tended towards in more recent years, and does not seem inappropriate for the work--though earlier recordings may have been more electric. Asides from that, this is the only recording available of Marteau, and merits a recommendation on that alone.

The present disc also contains two other works: Notations, Boulez's first published work and Structures II, from the late 1950s. Notations is a set of twelve brief serial piano pieces, and is a striking example (as are the flute sonatina and first piano sonata) of what a precocious talent he was. Dynamic and wide-ranging, these may not be classics of the piano keyboard, but there are few better opus 1s around.

Structures II, though, is even better. This is a two-movement (or volume, as the composer puts it) work for two pianos that ranges from ferocious toccata-like writing to more reposeful explorations of the piano sonority. Often the aggressive writing dominates, and it has a splendid rhythmic verve to it.

There are no current rivals to Marteau, though there are other recordings of both Notations and Structures II (notably with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Florent Boffard on a DG disc, along with the composer conducting ...explosant-fixe...). I'm quite happy with Psi-hien Chen and Bernhard Wambach here, though the DG rival is equally good, and in lusher sound. However, the main interest in this disc is inevitably going to be Marteau--and for that, this disc has no rival.

VERY BEST OF
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Rare Goodies

VERY BEST OF
NOTATIONS
Manufacturer: WENDI RECORDS
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music
General | R&B | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007SMM9C