What a great man, what a sad day, enjoy this wonderful recording of this great work, conducted by him.
Pierre Boulez died around 10:30 a.m. this morning (January 6, 2016) at the age of 90 years. There are many ways in which Pierre Boulez influenced and shaped art music in the twentieth century and beyond. As an innovative and even rebellious composer and conductor, he forced us all to look at music in a new way. One of my favorite achievements of his was the recording he made of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the Cleveland Orchestra. Though in some ways a performance only possible in recorded version, it was and is nonetheless an ear-opening look at a great masterwork. The recording is full of Boulezisms of interpretation that make it fun and exciting, and is also a marvelous sonic achievement. Each instrument section had its own mic, and then this colossal must-track recording was mixed into a model of clarity and transparency. I offer it here, and hope…
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