Igor Markevitch Tschaikovsky

The years have seen Pierre Boulez record for CBS, Erato, EMI, and Philips, among other labels, but his most consistent and critically praised work has appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, where he has conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and his own Ensemble InterContemporain in many successful performances. These ensembles are heard on this trimline, six-CD box set of Igor Stravinsky's major works, which brings together Boulez's recordings of L'oiseau de feu, Petrushka, Le Sacre du printemps, L'histoire du Soldat, the symphonies, concertos, and other works, recorded between 1980 and 1996. As one of the leading champions of modernism, first as a composer and essayist, then as a prominent conductor, Boulez is regarded as an authority on Stravinsky's oeuvre, and it is difficult to imagine many conductors who have a better understanding of the technical and stylistic issues that affect performances. Boulez is also famous for his precision and meticulousness, which make the details stand out clearly in the rhythmically complex and texturally dense orchestral scores of the ballets, and yet seem so delicate and exact in the concertos and pieces for smaller ensembles.

Ukrainian pianist Igor Gryshyn performs the music of one of his greatest compatriots, pianist-composer Viktor Kosenko, alongside repertoire by a figure who inspired Kosenko’s output: Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. This album brings Kosenko’s music into the spotlight and reveals a composer deserving of wider attention. Kosenko’s Études, Op. 8 brim with a wealth of ideas, encompassing the chromatic fluidity and shifting colours that show Scriabin’s influence with other stylistic traits ranging from full-blooded Romanticism to jazz. Scriabin’s Four Preludes, Op. 22 date from early in his career and demonstrate his love of Chopin’s music as he takes elements of Chopin’s style to new extremes of expression. The Sonata No. 4 in F sharp major, Op. 30 was composed at a crossroads in Scriabin’s life, and reflects his increasingly vivid treatment of music as a vehicle for his ecstatic, intoxicating visions.