The bad boy of classical music at mid-century, Pierre Boulez made an infamous comment about burning down all the opera houses that was incendiary, to say the least, but it pointed to the fact that Boulez needed to burn bridges to pave the way for a new kind of music. That he became friends with, and later championed the music of, Igor Stravinsky, is odd if only because Stravinsky went through so many stylistic changes--from seductive exoticism to neo-baroque to 12-tone serialism--that Boulez probably didn't know what to make of the elder statesman. But Boulez's maturation as both composer and conductor allowed him to view Stravinsky as a kindred soul restlessly searching for new forms of expression. These 1993 performances of two great Stravinsky works from before and after World War I--that still-bludgeoning masterpiece of rhythm and dance, The Rite of Spring (1913), and a lovely, brief work of subtle coloration, Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)--not only give us two sides of Stravinsky but also demonstrate Boulez's innate understanding of such a wide musical palette. The London Philharmonic performs splendidly, and in an added bonus interview, Boulez discusses the importance and influence of The Rite of Spring, not only on him as a musician but on 20th century music as a whole. --Kevin Filipski
