CSO Celebrates Boulez's 85th Birthday

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 7, 2010 5:40PM

On March 26 Pierre Boulez will turn 85, but the the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is celebrating a couple months early, devoting all its January performances to one of the most important musicians of the past century. Boulez's relationship with the CSO began in 1969 when he first conducted the orchestra, and he was designated the principal guest conductor from 1995 until becoming conductor emeritus in 2006. Besides his conducting accomplishments - Boulez was also the Cleveland Orchestra's principal guest conductor, as well as at one time the music director of both the New York Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra - Boulez is also one of the foremost modernist composers, a leading purveyor and theorist of modern music, and has taught at University of Basel, Harvard University, and the Collège de France. He's had a full 85 years.

A number of events will be held in Boulez's honor, including concerts, a lecture, and an album release (all shows are in Orchestra Hall unless otherwise noted)
Check them all out after the jump.

• January 7-9, 12 - CSO

  Pierre Boulez, conductor
  Mathieu Dufour, flute
  Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
  Falk Struckmann, bass-baritone

  Maurice Ravel - "Le tombeau de Couperin"
  Marc-André Dalbavie - Flute Concerto
  Béla Bartók - "Bluebeard's Castle"

  CSO principal flutist Mathieu Dufour has been testing the waters over the past season and a half with that hot young thing, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, even going so far as accepting the principal flute position there this past September. The CSO knows, like all of us, that if you love someone, you must set them free. Well, as Andrew Patner of the Sun-Times reports, we just found out that Dufour is, in fact, all ours.

• January 14-16, 19 - CSO

  David Robertson, conductor
  Kyoko Takezawa, violin

  Olivier Messiaen - "Les offrandes oubliées"
  Alban Berg - Violin Concerto
  Igor Stravinsky - "The Rite of Spring"

  David Robertson, former conductor of the Boulez-founded Ensemble InterContemporain and current music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, leads the CSO in music Boulez has long championed, including music by Olivier Messiaen, with whom Boulez studied while at the Paris Conservatoire. And don't forget about the CSO's Chicagoist Gift Guide special; you can still get two tickets for the price of one to the Thursday and Tuesday concerts by calling or stopping by the Symphony Center box office and mentioning code "Special 2-for-1" (some restrictions apply).

• January 17 - Civic Orchestra of Chicago

  David Robertson, conductor

  Anton Webern - Passacaglia
  Anton Webern - Five Pieces for Orchestra
  Anton Webern - Six Pieces for Orchestra,
  Gustav Mahler - Adagio from Symphony No. 10

  The Civic Orchestra is the CSO's training program, mostly consisting of musicians under 30; it's the orchestral musicians of tomorrow, today! Maybe's it not the CSO, but it's a good orchestra and the concerts are free (tickets still required). In addition, Boulez and Robertson are scheduled to give a talk about the concert beforehand.

• January 21-23 - CSO

  Pierre Boulez, conductor
  Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
  Tamara Stefanovich, piano
  Cynthia Yeh, percussion
  Vadim Karpinos, percussion

  Pierre Boulez - "Livre pour cordes"
  Béla Bartók - Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra
  Igor Stravinsky - "The Firebird"

  This a rare chance to hear the full ballet score of Stravinsky's "Firebird," which, to our ears, is far superior to the more commonly played suites, and you get to hear it conducted by one of the greatest Stravinsky interpreters.The CSO's Chicagoist Gift Guide special applies to the Thursday concert of this series, too.

• January 24 - MusicNOW

  Pierre Boulez, conductor
  Cliff Colnot, conductor
  Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
  Tamara Stefanovich, piano
  Nathan Cole, violin
  John Sharp, cello
  Arshia Cont, computer production
  Jérémie Henrot, sound engineer

  Johannes Boris Borowski - "Wandlung"
  Pierre Boulez - "Structures"
  Pierre Boulez - "Messagesquisse" for Seven Cellos
  Dai Fujikura - "Mirrors"
  Pierre Boulez - "Anthèmes II"

  Boulez will conduct a concert of the CSO's new-music chamber series that includes three of his own works and world premieres by Johannes Boris Borowski and Dai Fujikura commissioned by the CSO for the birthday celebration.

• January 26 - Conversation with Boulez

  Get it straight from the horse's mouth. Boulez and CSO program annotator Phillip Huscher discuss modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago.
  Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan, $15, $10 AIC members, free for CSO subscribers

• January 26 - New CSO Recording

  If you want something concrete to remember Boulez's birthday celebration forever and ever, pick up a copy of the Boulez-led all-Stravinsky CSO album, the latest release on the orchestra's own Resound label. The recording features Symphony in Three Movements, Four Études, and a rare full version of the ballet "Pulcinella." The disc is released on the 26th, but it'll be available from iTunes on January 19.