concert Boulez conducts Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartók, and Boulez Vienna Philharmonic

Stravinsky’s Tone Poem "The Song of the Nightingale", based on his opera of the same name, opens this eclectic concert. Its 1919 premiere was surrounded by controversy similar to his epochal Rite of Spring. Debussy’s Nocturnes Three Nocturnes “Nuages”, “Fêtes”, and “Sirènes” follow, works inspired by James Whistler’s eponymous paintings. Boulez’s Livre pour cordes derives from a work conceived for string quartet and composed over the course of two decades. The program closes with the ballet suite of Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin, Sz. 73, a strikingly vivid piece that tells a dark story with a few whimsical twists.