Bon Anniversaire

Constant travel has made me miss Pierre Boulez's 85th birthday, celebrated in Vienna with a Szymanowski, Debussy, Boulez concert in Vienna.

85, really ! Boulez's modernism and intellectual intensity has never stopped and is just unbelievable. For those of my generation, his return to Europe to oversee the creation and development of Ircam was a historical event. I would identify two among his many achievements:

• Having us understand how music has logically and historically evolved from say Wagner to Boulez ...
• Helping us realise that modern music is not about agonising on the meaning of such dissonance but simply playing the notes with rigour and focus. 

The latter one is not a trusim. This is true also so true of all composers and explain what Boulez has brought to our understanding of Wagner, Mahler or Janacek and so many others.