György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata)

György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard | Gyorgy Ligeti, Pierre-Laurent Aimard | A few comments

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György Ligeti Edit...

	György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard Gyorgy Ligeti, Pierre-Laurent Aimard Sony, 1997 average customer review:based on 20 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Ligeti played by Aimard -- pure sparkle!

With the Ligeti Edition still in print and new installments of the Ligeti Project being released regularly, it's been a challenge to keep up. (A Ligeti benefactor, Vincent Meyer, has subsidized the gradual production of a complete set of composer-approved new recordings of all his compositions, the Edition/Project, first on Sony and now on Teldec.) I have finally acquired this set of "Works for Piano" performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Ligeti's pianist of choice, which includes Etudes 1-15, late works from the 1980s, and the "Musica ricercata," composed from 1951 to 1953 before Ligeti left Hungary. The early work gets better as it goes along, but is not as compelling as the etudes.

In the liner notes, Ligeti details many influences on his etudes, including the music of sub-Saharan Africa and its ethnomusicology, the jazz of Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, and the pianistic composers Scarlatti, Chopin, Schumann and Debussy. Very interesting, all that, but the sensibility of these pieces seems to me to be more a return to the early 20th century of Debussy and Bartok than anything else -- a postmodern stepping back from Ligeti's signature micropolyphony and subsequent elaborations of the period from the late 1950s to early '70s (for instance, "Atmospheres," "Requiem," "Lux Aeterna," and "String Quartet #2"). It's a turn toward a lighter tone, in contrast to the dark, serious work of the high modern avant-garde, and a new focus on rhythmic complexity. Many of these short works summon up a mood of dreamy fantasy and reverie -- a far cry from Boulez or Xenakis! The Etudes stand beside the "Piano Concerto" (played by Aimard on LIGETI PROJECT 1 -- see my review) and the "Violin Concerto" (played by Zimmerman on LIGETI PROJECT 3 -- see my review) as late Ligeti, 1980s compositions.

Delightful on all levels -- composition, performance and recording.

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A few comments

There is another very good recording of these pieces by Fredrik Ullen also available on Amazon. Though which recording is better is probably a matter of personal taste, I prefer Ullen's version "Desordre", and he seems to take slightly more control of the pieces. Ultimately it probably doesn't matter which you buy, however. Book I etudes are very impressive pieces. Book II seems a little less even in quality but the best pieces (Der Zauberlehring, En suspens, Galamb borong) easily match the first book and explore new areas. The Musica Ricercata are interesting small scale pieces, if somewhat less serious than the etudes. He later developed them into pieces for wind instruments and even used one (no. 7) in the second movement of his violin concerto.

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Wow!

I wonder what is the source of the magical inspiration capable of producing this music. Ligeti is a genius of our time. I will not add anything more to the interesting reviews published in this page. Only to say that the music of Ligeti (Grand Macabre, Requiem, Adventures, Concertos,...) offers a unique musical experience for those who love contemporary music. For those who not, Ligeti is, maybe the best great composer to introduce them in the music of our time. From this album (Bravo Aimard!), the Etudes are the outstanding part. "Automne A Varsovie" (which has the astonishing indication of "Presto cantabile") "Disordre", "Galamb Borong", are pieces which will remembered in the future. Music for the memory and the history of music.

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Makes a superb introduction to a modern Master

Not only are these etudes brilliantly composed and intellectually resiliant, but, in their humor, intelligence, and daring, they are very entertaining and accessible to a wide audience (I dare someone to listen to the very first etude in this collection and call it "boring" or "inpenetrable").

In fact, if I only had one Ligeti composition to show to someone who had never heard the composer, it would be Book One of these piano etudes.

I have heard numerous other pianists tackle these thorny works, but none perform it with the legerity, musical cohesion, and elan of Aimard. His performace easily boosts the communicative expression of these pieces by 30%.

This disc is a perfect artifact of the greatness of contemporary classical music: cognizant of the stresses and strains peculiar to post-modern living and able to communicate such wisdom with the highest artistic aspiration.

What else can I say? Give this disc a whirl!

for more information click here

Wow!

I wonder what is the source of the magical inspiration capable of producing this music. Ligeti is a genius of our time. I will not add anything more to the interesting reviews published in this page. Only to say that the music of Ligeti (Grand Macabre, Requiem, Adventures, Concertos,...) offers a unique musical experience for those who love contemporary music. For those who not, Ligeti is, maybe the best great composer to introduce them in the music of our time. From this album (Bravo Aimard!), the Etudes are the outstanding part. "Autumn in Varsovia" (which has the astonishing indication of "Presto cantabile") "Disordre", "Galamb Borong", are pieces which will remembered in the future. Music for the memory and The History of Music.

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4

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