Pierre Boulez, the angry young man who once suggested that in order to liberate music, the first thing we need to do is blow up all the opera houses, turns 90.

Though his dogmatic approach had the effect of impeding the careers of many composers who didn’t adhere to his particularly rigid philosophy, his importance is undeniable. And some assessments seem to indicate that Boulez was not so dogmatic, in some respects, after all.

Boulez appreciation in The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/20/george-benjamin-in-praise-of-pierre-boulez-at-90

Deutsche Welle:
http://www.dw.de/pierre-boulez-the-new-music-evangelist/a-18263555

The Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/11493943/The-modernist-maverick-Pierre-Boulez-at-90.html

The L.A. Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/

Here’s probably Boulez’s most famous work, “Le Marteau sans maître” (“The Hammer without a Master”), after surrealist poetry of René Char:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS82nF85_gA

Perhaps more easily disgestible in this live performance (with translations posted):

Boulez, metamorphosed from contentious revolutionary to Grand Old Man of the Podium, conducting Mahler – characteristically devoid of histrionics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqFwWah5ioE

Happy birthday, Pierre Boulez.

PHOTO: Even despots can have their lighter moments