In 2005, I was chairman of the BBC Symphony Orchestra when Pierre Boulez (Editorial, 28 March) conducted a special concert for his 80th birthday. The all-French programme included Debussy, some of his own works, and then Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe – an especially big date on the calendar for me as principal cor anglais. Boulez had previously been chief conductor decades earlier, and many players remembered his precise approach with trepidation.
As we rehearsed Daphnis, his approach was indeed rhythmically precise, and some wind solo players felt a bit hurried. Boulez’s highly literal interpretation left little room for personal individuality, and, after a while, as chairman, I was dispatched in a break to basically ask him to slow down a bit.
