Decca and Erato revisit the works and early recordings of the recently departed French nonagenarian.

Two boxes this month commemorate the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez, both containing some obscure material. In a 14-disc set from Warner/Erato, we get recordings from the 1980s featuring a number of orchestras and Boulez’s own Ensemble InterContemporain. The latter group plays music by Elliott Carter, including the Oboe Concerto with soloist Heinz Holliger; works by Birtwistle and Kurtág, as well as more familiar fare (Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and The Soldier’s Tale, both complete). Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard made his recording debut with this ensemble: we hear him solo in Ligeti’s Etudes Book 1 and Boulez’s First Piano Sonata. Highlights of the set are Schoenberg’s Piano and Violin Concertos, with Peter Serkin and Pierre Amoyal respectively; the conductor’s only recording of Sinfonia by Berio, and a complete recording of Stravinsky’s pivotal opera The Nightingale with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Felicity Palmer and John Tomlinson.

From 1956 to 1967 Boulez curated a series of new music concerts known as Le Domaine Musical. Rare recordings from this series have been collected in a 10-disc set. It is...