Pierre Boulez through the years

Boulez takes a few moments to do a little reading before conducting the Los Angeles Philaharmonic on June 5, 1989.  (Con Keyes / Los Angeles Times)

Boulez leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a performance at New York‘s Carnegie Hall on March 4, 2001.  (Stephen Chernin / Associated Press)

Boulez conducts the L.A. Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Mahler’s Adagio from Symphony #10 on Nov. 28, 2003.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Boulez rehearses Feb. 11, 2005, at the Cite de la Musique Ensemble Intercontemporain orchestra in Paris. He had been named honorary president of the Staatsoper of Berlin, the opera announced March 29, 2005, three days after he turned 80.  (MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images)

Boulez conducts the orchestra during a performance of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin at Carnegie Hall in New York on Jan. 30, 2010.  (Craig Ruttle / For The Times)

Boulez is seen in Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, NY, on Jan. 30, 2010.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)