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Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra begin this 2000 concert by performing an important, infrequently heard piece: Notations I- IV by Barenboim's Chicago predecessor, French composer-conductor Pierre Boulez. Barenboim, who in his long and eclectic career has championed Boulez's often impenetrable work, makes this particularly thorny composition sound, in its unapologetically modernist way, accessible. Claude Debussy's gorgeous La Mer sounds graceful, full of nuance and detail; the main work on the program, Spaniard Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, is an appealing hybrid opera-concert work, and Barenboim's obvious affinity for it shines through. Soprano Elisabete Matos sings Falla's solo numbers with a lovely vocal sheen. An encore, Jose Carli's jaunty "El Firulete," closes the concert. There's a fascinating talk between Barenboim and Boulez as a bonus. For an informative 20 minutes, the maestros discuss their approaches to music, even touching on how to deal with Richard Wagner in the 21st century. --Kevin Filipski
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