'Blow up the opera houses!': 100 years of Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez would have been 100 years old on March 26, 2025. An emblematic figure of contemporary music, he marked the twentieth century by his innovative approach and his lasting influence on the world musical landscape. Composer and conductor, he was able to impose a resolutely modern vision, transforming musical institutions and inspiring generations of musicians.

He was admired and hated. French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was a visionary who revolutionized classical music and shaped the European music scene.

Boulez once wanted to blow up all the opera houses, later he himself designed one for Lucerne: Today Boulez would have become a hundred. His companions Michael Haefliger and Mark Sattler of the Lucerne Festival remember the great composer, conductor and cultural-political troublemaker.

The music industry around the world celebrates the centenary of the birth of Pierre Boulez, acclaimed French artist who became a "music manager" and triumphed, not without controversy, as composer, conductor and theoristThe instrument in danger of extinction that you could have at home and that has not been built for more than 50 years The history of music is written not only with scores, but also with ideas capable of shaking its foundations. O…

In 1985, Michèle Reverdy reserved to Pierre Boulez a series of five interviews on the occasion of his 60th birthday. In the second issue, he spoke about the profession of composer, particularly about orchestration and how to revisit his works as well as about Varèse's musical language.