In musical terms, conductor and composer Pierre Boulez is a colossus. His influence since the Second World War can be felt everywhere, but particularly so in the world of modern classical music. He voices his controversial opinions when asked, and also when not asked, and as a result was not loved by everyone.
As a figurehead of avant-garde music, Boulez championed serialist music (in the Fifties), aleatoric music (Sixties, with elements of the music left to chance) and the use of electronic elements in instrumental music (Seventies).
Some of the pieces on this collection are from those periods, but most of this is a bit earlier and not as revolutionary. Pieces that stand out is the Lulu suite by Alban Berg (a pupil of Arnold Schönberg) and a really good performance of the Sacre of Stravinsky, mentioned in the Spotify link. Debussy’s La mer is also there, a real good recording. I would not think Boulez would be good for that piece, but he is.