The 'Second Sonata' of Boulez seems to get everyone confused,or stymied,afraid of its "abyss" it was his most violent gratuitous and brutal work, most exposed to the extremities of its own timbre. Pollini plays it like an automaton coldly,like he's a "phanthom" playing and not there, only Yvonne Loriod comprehends the times,the gestures of this piece if you contemplate it as a document certainly the Occupation of Paris in WW2 had some effect/affect on the young Pierre,riding the Metro with Messiaen and that..
Pierre Boulez's three piano sonatas are early works indeed. The first two were written in his early 20s, while the third came not long after. Here the young Finnish pianist Paavali Jumppanen gives a reading which, if not outright called definitive by the composer, still seems to carry his approval.Even for those familiar with much serial music, even if you've heard everything else Boulez composed, the piano sonatas can be difficult listening. In fact, in the beginning one might think it merely a series of b..
