I know of no tougher proposition in contemporary music than a programme of unrelieved Xenakis. Even the insert-note writer speaks of the harsh, stubborn, relentless character of Phlegra: after all, the title refers to a battleground where giants and gods engage in combat. So collectors hopeful that, at 70, the great iconoclast may at last be mellowing are likely to be disappointed.
Xenakis remains a musical force to be reckoned with, not least because his modernism embraces such disconcerting contrasts. Play the earliest work here, Nomos alpha (1965), where the object seems to be to deconstruct the cello's poetic, lyrical soul, and you may assume that Xenakis has no desire to escape from such extravagant austerity. Then listen to Keren (1986) and you encounter a marvellously entertaining study for solo trombone whose diverting progress from nonchalant melodic beginning to mysterious subterranean ending is good-humoured as well as imaginative in its exploration of all the instrument's resources. Keren is the Hebrew term for horn, and for much of its length the instrument seems to be seeking metamorphosis—into French horn, or even trumpet.
The ensemble works have comparable diversity. The most recent, Jalons (1986), is the least ingratiating—growing, grating procession around the 'landmarks' of its title. Thallein (1984), like Phlegra (1975), is less oppressively pugnacious, though still for most of its length determinedly primitive in form and colour. The title, Greek for ''to burgeon'', may be presumed to indicate an interest in growth, but within Xenakis's chosen language organic processes are difficult to trace.
The recordings of the two solo works are unsparingly close, but the performances can take it: Benny Sluchin's trombone playing is especially brilliant. The ensemble pieces are also performed with all the necessary virtuosity, and have good spatial distribution. Xenakis's craggy sonic architecture is in no danger of having its rough edges smoothed out when, as here, the composer supervises the recordings.'