Yes, it's Pierre Boulez. Hearing his Derive 2 at the Barenboim/WEDO Prom somehow resembled discovering a new deep-sea creature that cast radical new light on all our assumptions of what marine life really is. I was riveted from start to finish. Its weaving of countless ideas, its progression of entirely aural and nonspecific narrative, its amazing colours (what a collection of instruments!), all conspire to challenge one's ideas of what music is, what it means and how we listen to it.
I'm holding the fort, more or less, with the Indy's classical reviews this week - Michael and Ed are both on their travels. Here's my write-up of last night.
Obviously not everyone is going to agree about the Boulez, which is as long as, or longer than, a big romantic symphony and requires a heap of concentration. So, for a way in, try reading Tom Service's brilliant introduction to the man and his music; and then catch the concert on the BBC iPlayer (UK only) here.
[photo by Clive Barda]
3 comments:
I thought it was a wonderful performance, full of such vitality and warmth that even a Boulez sceptic - not that I qualify as that! - would, if bothering to listen, surely have been won over. If anything, I found it a more inviting performance than that I heard a few years ago (2008?) from Boulez himself and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, though that might partly be a matter of my increased familiarity with the work. I'd be very happy if there were to be a third version of the work, twice as long again...!
It's actually not odd that the orchestra members' names are not in the Proms program. It's for their own security. This was the case back in 2006, per this review from New York City, and obviously remains the case today, sad to say. I had to pass through a metal detector the one time I saw the WEDO live.
Geo, that's a good point... Security is quite tight at the RAH. You can't get backstage unless someone official has put your name on a list, all the tickets are barcoded and scanned on entry, and there are plenty of bag checks.
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