PIERRE BOULEZ
nce, on a plane trip to London, I was sitting next to Pierre Boulez when they handed out the landing cards. Looking at the card, I asked Pierre what he wrote in for ‘occupation’. Here was a man who could reasonably claim to be a composer, a conductor, a writer, a pedagogue, a founder of institutions and, in a very tangible way, a politician. His response was typical of his humility: he said, ‘I put down “Musician”.’ Pierre turns 90 this March, but I became acquainted with his compositions as a teen, fascinated by the discovery of contemporary classical music. Le marteau sans maître seemed to be one of those masterworks on a level of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon or Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. His recordings of the 20th-century classics were revelatory in their transparency, precision and passion. When there were few institutions to help with the development of technology for musical creation, he invented and ran IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique). Knowing that the constant performance of new
‘If the score is really clear in your mind, you will instinctively make the right balances’ – Boulez works at the highest level was the way to build understanding of this repertoire, he founded the Ensemble Intercontemporain. It was here that I got to work with him closely. Although I had followed a number of his rehearsals in London, I had never met the man. He saw me conduct in Paris and came back to say hello. He was disarmingly gracious and engaging. Six months later it was my great fortune to be chosen by him to succeed Peter Eötvös as the Ensemble’s Musical Director.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company simon Godwin, associate Director of the royal Court, makes his rsC directorial debut with shakespeare’s exuberant romantic comedy. Mark arends and Michael Marcus star as the two friends who fall in love with the same girl. DVD & BLU-RAY
LE CORSAIRE aDaM English National Ballet set in the exotic surroundings of the ottoman empire, Le Corsaire is a swashbuckling pirate drama that delights for its spectacular nature and which includes some of the most bravura male dancing in the ballet repertoire. DVD & BLU-RAY
JESÚS LEÓN BEL CANTO Bellini · DonizeTTi VerDi Mexican Jesús león is one of today’s most exciting lyric tenors. here he presents a selection of his favourite bel canto arias, uniting three giants of 19th-century italian opera in a dramatic and expressive programme that reveals his sweetness, lightness and flexibility of voice. CD
Sitting next to him over nine years during auditions for the Ensemble (he presided over every final round) was fascinating and frequently revelatory. One had heard stories of his dismissive attitude regarding older repertoire, but I was once left speechless by his knowledge of different formal approaches in Carl Maria von Weber’s four piano sonatas (full disclosure: at the time I had not known that Weber wrote piano sonatas!). His knowledge of the past has always been deep, thorough and surprisingly wide-ranging.
Pierre’s ability to concentrate and focus is something inspiring and a little frightening. In rehearsals he would often approach a particularly difficult passage with the remark: ‘It’s very simple…’ His inner teacher would then emerge and allow an individual or group to see how something that seemed well-nigh impossible a moment earlier opusarte.com Follow us on
DAVID NEWSHOLME BaCh The Trios sonaTas one of the most acclaimed organists of his generation, David newsholme offers a fresh perspective on J.s. Bach’s six Trio sonatas, re-ordering their sequence to create dynamic, spacious performances that allow the listener to fully appreciate Bach’s mastery of melody and supreme use of counterpoint. 2CD SET
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GRAMOPHONE APRIL 2015 17
