Tony Tommasini, in a generally warm review of Pierre Boulez's recent concerts with the Chicago Symphony at Carnegie Hall, describes their rendition of Stravinsky's Pulcinella as "listless" and "stodgy and blurry." I agree. As Tony says, the problem may simply be that Boulez doesn't believe in the music. After all, just a few years ago he declared that Stravinsky "began so well" and then became "an epigone, trying this historical style, then that one." But there's also the matter of the hall. At the reopening concert for Alice Tully Hall, David Robertson led the Juilliard Orchestra in a performance of the Pulcinella suite that was in every way sharper, clearer, and more alive than Chicago's. Robertson is undoubtedly a better conductor for the score, but Tully's crisp acoustics also helped. No wonder three Stravinsky scores were heard during the first week; the dry acoustics match the composer's mature aesthetic to a tee. The debate over Tully is ongoing, with Allan Kozinn leading the prosecution, but I believe that in certain music the hall will be as good as it gets in New York City. Boulez himself might be very happy there.
