VARÈSE : The Complete Works (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra · Asko Ensemble · Riccardo Chailly) 2CD (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Wonderfully performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Asko Ensemble, dir. Riccardo Chailly. At long last, the complete work of this brilliant composer, including the original version of "Amériques," as well as several previously unpublished works. The entire project was assembled with the assistance of composer Chou Wen-Chung, who had worked directly with Varèse. This massive undertaking includes the following works: "Tuning Up," "Amériques," "Arcana," "Poème Électronique," "Nocturnal," "Un Grand Sommeil Noir" (in both the original and orchestral versions),"Offrandes," "Hyperprism," "Octandre," "Intégrales," "Ecuatorial," "Ionisation," "Density 21.5," "Déserts," and "Dance for Burgess." Gene Tyranny
EDGAR VARESE (1883-1965)
1.1 *
Tuning Up 5:00
Score Editor [Reconstruction and editing by] – Chou Wen-chung
Amériques (Original Version) 24:38
Score Editor [Performing edition prepared from the original manuscript by] – Chou Wen-chung
24:38
Poème Électronique 8:02
Transferred By [Transfer from the original master by] – Kees Tazelaar, Konrad Boehmer
Arcana    18:22
Nocturnal 10:25
Score Editor [Edited and completed by] – Chou Wen-chung
Un Grand Sommeil Noir 4:08
Orchestrated By – Antony Beaumont
2.2 **
Un Grand Sommeil Noir (Original Version) 2:46
Piano – François Kerdoncuff
Soprano Vocals – Mireille Delunsch
Offrandes
Soprano Vocals – Sarah Leonard
Hyperprism 4:18
Score Editor [Revised by] – Richard Saks
Octandre
Score Editor [Revised and edited by] – Chou Wen-chung
Intégrales 10:18
Score Editor [Revised and edited by] – Chou Wen-chung
Ecuatorial 11:27
Bass Vocals – Kevin Deas
Score Editor [Corrections from the original manuscript by] – Chou Wen-chung
Ionisation    5:51
Density 21.5 4:05
Flute – Jacques Zoon
Déserts    
Dance For Burgess 1:48
Score Editor [Completed edition by] – Chou Wen-chung

Conductor – Riccardo Chailly
Orchestra – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Ensemble – Asko Ensemble

EDGARD VARÈSE : The Varèse Album (1972-2007) 2xCD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Here is a collection on the indie Wounded Bird Records that was once one of the linchpins of the Columbia Masterworks LP catalog, yet it has never been issued by anyone on CD: The Varèse Album. Issued in 1972, CBS's The Varèse Album was in itself a reissue, consisting of the albums Music of Edgar Varèse (1960) and Music of Edgar Varèse, Vol. 2 (1963), both featuring pickup groups led by Robert Craft and the first volume including Varèse's own realization on tape of Poème Electronique (1958). In 1972, The Varèse Album was thought to contain near to all of the works of Varèse, and since then that short catalog hasn't expanded by much. Listening to these early '60s recordings of Varèse works that have been recorded many times in the interim is illuminating; while in the '70s this was thought to be the Cadillac of Varèse recordings, time has not been kind to all of these performances. Craft's reading of Ionisation seems a bit fast and sloppy, Intègrales a bit too casual, but Octandre and Hyperprism remain good performances, and Poème Electronique is what it is -- the one and only realization of Varèse's final fully authorized work. The original Columbia releases were inexplicably stingy in disclosing who performed what on these albums; thanks to Wounded Bird, we finally learn that flutist Arthur Gleghorn was the soloist in Varèse's Density 21.5, one of the finest performances on this set. One aspect of this reissue that is not so good is that the original album liner is reproduced at a one-to-one ratio to the CD insert. As a result, the liner notes are literally unreadable -- it is like trying to read a copy of the magna carta as included inside a fortune cookie. While recorded performances of Varèse by Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, and Riccardo Chailly may offer better sound and more proficient readings of these works than found in The Varèse Album, it is still an important release historically and Wounded Bird should be applauded for returning it to the active catalog. by Uncle Dave Lewis  

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