Boulez & The Cleveland Orchestra

"The sound throughout is exceptionally vivid, and Boulez, the orchestra and his soloists provide exemplary performances at almost every turn: heartily recommended." Gramophone Editor's Choice June 2004 [on the Debussy/Ravel]

"Absoluterhythmic precision and the clarity of colour that comes from meticulous balance are among the other pleasures of these performances. They make a most satisfying coupling, too. The recordings are excellent: clean but not clinical and ample in range." Gramophone [on the Messiaen]

"the more recent of Pierre Boulez's two versions, with the Cleveland Orchestra, is as near definitive as could be imagined in such an elusive work. All its details are perfectly realised, and Boulez weaves delicately coloured webs of connections between all the constituents." The Guardian [On Debussy's Jeux]

"Boulez once again gives us such a focus of accuracy that, familiar with the pieces, one can have a real sense of vertigo, gazing into each musical moment with both microscopic detail and a grand feel of scale and occasion." MusicWeb [on the Stravinsky]

"The lyrical second subject, usually elegant and genteel, here flows like a cool stream. Boulez's carefully rationed rubato is employed to round off a phrase rather than expand it. In the development the impetuous pulse presses ever forward, letting nothing get in its way, and builds to a frenzied, brightly-lit climax, one of the best on record." ClassicsToday [On the Mahler Symphony 4]