Boulez and the piano

The uncompromising innovator Pierre Boulez is heard in Structures for two pianos: steely music with the raw energy of a young rebel. Scherzo, an unpublished work that Boulez wrote when he was just 19, introduced by Ralph van Raat in 2023, is also full of energy. Courtes dérives à partir d’éclat is totally different. A mysterious play of colours without a strict structure, in which it is all about pure tonal beauty, just like in Morton Feldman’s enigmatically floating Two Pianos.

Ralph van Raat is a regular performer at the Muziekgebouw when it comes to the musical avant-garde. Grammy Award-winner Gloria Cheng already worked with Boulez forty years ago when he was a regular conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Courtes dérives à partir d’éclat was a gift for her wedding in 1996. Frank Zappa’s idiosyncratically meandering Bob in Dacron brings to mind Boulez the conductor, who conducted Stravinsky, Mahler, Wagner as well as Zappa, in addition to avant-garde music.