Classic concert from Paris this week. The legendary Pierre Boulez leads Orchestre de Paris in a concert of music by Arnold Schönberg and Bela Bartok, with pianist Bertrand Chamayou in the Bartok 2nd Piano Concerto. Recorded at Salle Pleyel on December 21, 2011 by the veneral Radio France Musique.
The concert starts with Schönberg’s iconic Verklaerte Nacht – and then Bertrand Chamayou joins the band for Bartok’s 2nd Piano Concerto (on the top player). After intermission, the concert concludes with a performance of Bartok’s Concerto For Orchestra.
Pierre Boulez was one of the most prominent conductors of his generation. In a career lasting more than sixty years, he was music director of the New York Philharmonic, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. He made frequent appearances with many other orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. He was known for his performances of the music of the first half of the twentieth century—including Debussy and Ravel, Stravinsky and Bartók, and the Second Viennese School—as well as that of his contemporaries, such as Ligeti, Berio and Carter. His work in the opera house included the production of Wagner’s Ring cycle for the centenary of the Bayreuth Festival, and the world premiere of the three-act version of Berg’s opera Lulu. His recorded legacy is extensive.
In the 2015/16 season, Bertrand Chamayou made his debuts with the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. He is the only artist to have received the French Victoire de la Musique Classique award three times, most recently in the category of Instrumental Soloist in 2016 (previously “Revelation of the Year, Solo Instrumentalist” in 2006, and “Recording of the Year” in 2012).
In 2016, he released a double-album on Erato of the complete works for solo piano of Maurice Ravel, recorded in his hometown of Toulouse and hailed in Gramophone magazine for “revelatory performances of breathtaking beauty”.
Chamayou is a regular chamber music performer, with partners including Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Quatuor Ebène, Antoine Tamestit, Vilde Frang and Sol Gabetta, among others.
He became a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2015.
Another memorable Pierre Boulez concert – perfect Anti-Road Rage Wednesday music.
Enjoy.
