Some major orchestral micropolyphonic works and a fun early piece - Teldec s THE LIGETI PROJECT II continues the collection, started by Sony s Gyorgy Ligeti Edition, of Ligeti s complete works in performances overseen by the composer himself. This second disc contains four orchestral works, three of which were written in his micropolyphony style of the 1960s and 1970s, and the fourth a recently-rediscovered gem written as a student in 1951. These are performed by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by the young talent Jonathan Nott, and can be considered definitive.The earliest piece here is Concerto Romanesc (1951), a bit of juvenalia inspired by folk melodies the composer heard during musicological expeditions in Romania. Dating from before his use of micropolyphony and overtly modernistic techniques, these pieces may sound like they came from a different composer entirely. Indeed, there is a frank tonalism here, broken only by the occurance of a single F# in the context of F minor, which, as Ligeti painfully recalls in the notes, was reason enough for the Communist government of Hungary to ban it. The opening Andantino is among the most emotionally moving of Ligeti s works, and might be compared to his early Sonata for solo cello. This and the second movement Allegro vivace may sound familiar, as portions appeared arranged for two violins as Balada si joc on Gyorgy Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets.A bit before before leaving Hungary in the aftermath of the suppressed 1956 revolt, Ligeti had already begin experimenting with total chromaticism, which due to political restrictions made for pieces consigned to the desk drawer. Once free in the West, his first orchestral piece was Apparitions (1958-59), which in its first movement displays a use of all twelve-tones, and then in the second introduces the new technique of micropolyphony, interwoven textures of such complexity that one can hardly make out the individual strands. While entertaining, it is clearly an immature work in this new style, and I rarely come back to it. Maybe that is because the next piece here is one of Ligeti s sure masterpieces. Atmospheres (1961) is the piece which really brought Ligeti to international recognition, not only through the sensation of its premiere under Hans Rosbaud, but also because of Stanley Kubrick s unauthorized use of it in the film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Eschewing traditional rhythm and melody for a series of shifting tone colours, one might think Atmospheres doesn t even qualify as music, but what music it is! Packed with thousands of individual little cells, the piece offers something new on every listen, for one can, if one wants, go behind the great whoosh of orchestral sound and concentrate on individual lines.Lontano (1967) is closely related to Ligeti s a capella work Lux Aeterna, and indeed the same melody appears hidden in each. The composer skillfully gives the impression of a great object approaching from far-off, seeming to move slowly but ultimately zooming past the listener. The orchestral texture is very dense and generally even, Ligeti reportedly wrote the piece while addicted to painkillers, which explains a lot. One very interesting thing about Lontano in Ligeti s overall output is that he abandons total chromaticism here, and however avant-garde his technique of micropolyphony might be, the piece is nonetheless diatonic. San Francisco Polyphony (1973-74) was written during Ligeti s stint teaching at Stanford. It s a little-known work in comparison to others in the micropolyphonic style, and I think that s a real shame because Ligeti introduces a major innovation here. Instead of seeming static on the surface like Atmospheres et al., there is great activity and rhythmic experimentation, and there are countless overt melodies like in the composer s 1971 piece Melodien. This disc makes one of the single best introductions to the music of this great and sorely missed composer, although THE LIGETI PROJECT IV with its performance of the Requiem and larger view of the composer s career serves well, too.
One of the best CDs of contemporary music. - There re not many CDs like this available on the stores. It s the clear example of perfect CD in its repertoire. A wonderful composer, perfect performances and excellent recordings, together with a very good booklet and presentation.Some of the works are among the best of Ligeti, in my opinion. The Concert Romanesc (1951), is in clear debt with Bartók language. We have to remember Ligeti is from Transylvania, from a region where Eötvös, Kurtág and the own Bartók were from. The folk music is very important there, as the Bartók transcriptions show, and Ligeti was concerned about it in his early years, like we listen too in other works, specially the Musica Ricarcata in the multiple transcriptions that music allows. Concert Romanesc is really a good piece in its style, that of popular music based on Romanian tunes, that really were Hungarian in pre-war times, before that zone where transferred to Romania. Some of the concerto themes are present too in early pieces for violins and strings, those we can listen on the Sony Edition Nº1, played by the Arditti Quartet. These kind of pieces, like String Quartet Nº1, are the first Ligeti period, next step will come with some of the pieces you can hear in the rest of the CD.Apparitions (1958-59), was an scandal in its premiere, and it marks a turning point on Ligeti s aesthetics and way of composing. From a quite weberian style, the piece is brief and extremely concise in the way the instruments play. No more tunes, no more melodies, no more folk motives in this music, just really apparitions of sound in different ways and combinations, from different places in the orchestra. A very calm first movement, full of contrasts between silence and sound irruptions, and a second one much more vivid and fast. Teldec affirms this is the world premiere recording, in fact I don t know any other one, so I have to trust them. It s incredible this decisive piece was not recorded, as a turning point on Ligeti s work and as some of the most extreme and fantastic pieces form the `50s, a really breathtaking composition you will enjoy much more with the successive auditions.Atmospheres (1961), one of the most important pieces in the orchestral repertoire in the XXth Century, has an enormous performance on this CD, a jewel never heard before in this way on CD. Ligeti has written about Atmospheres that is a piece unique, in the sense its composed in a way that its mathematical combinations reach only to this work. Wonderful use of micro-polyphony and micro-tonality, composed through nets of sound really complex in which every instruments play different parts that construct an outstanding group. Strings, woodwinds, metals play on them limits, going from the highest tones to the deepest, like in the change from woodwinds to the massive entrance of deep strings. Lot of people know this piece from Kubrick s 2001, you should try this one, that is really much more better performance.Lontano (1968) is very careful about colours and polyphony, in fact we can here a quite medieval canon in the final sections of this piece, because of great interest of Ligeti on that medieval polyphony. The piece really seems to create new states of conscience, as the lines of music seems to go to no-known dimensions. Wonderful work too, taken by Kubrick again for his amazing film The Shinning, in which it s used perfectly, like all the music used in that film (Penderecki, Bartók, etc).I don t like San Francisco Polyphony (1973-74) so much like the two previous pieces, even the style is very close, but I really prefer some other works from that time. In the late `70s and in the `80s Ligeti will go into a new step I have to confess I don t like so much like the one which has Atmospheres, Lontano, String Quartet Nº2, Requiem, Doppelkonzert, Cello Concert...The performances are outstanding and simply perfect, they bring new life on these scores and the playing of, probably, the best orchestra in the world, conducted by one of the best young conductors in the world, Jonathan Nott, very trained on contemporary music. The recording is very, very good, with some pieces live-recorded, like Atmospheres and Lontano and some of them studio recordings, like Apparitions. It s incredible how the Berliners play so perfectly in a live-recording.Interesting texts by Ligeti on this jewel, one of the best CDs of contemporary music that I know.
Excellent, but only for a willing ear - Ligeti has based his style on being entirely different from anyone else. I would say that he has succeeded. His music is quite unlike anything I ve heard before, and it took me a little while to warm up to Ligeti s music. The atonal washes of orchestral color can be a bit jarring at first, but can provide deep interest in the music.The music is well recorded and well performed. I do not know of a better recording of these works.
Very Good Intro To Gyorgy Ligeti - You ve heard Ligeti s Atmospheres in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick used a lot of Ligeti in that film. Well, if you ve ever been interested in checking out this fascinating avant-garde composer, here s the perfect opportunity. Jonathan Nott conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in five works by everyone s favorite composer from Transylvania! The Berlin Philharmonic is not exactly known as the most progressive of orchestras, they are acknowledged as one of the supreme orchestras in the world when it comes to standard, tradional repertoire. Like say Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, R. Strauss and so on. It is a joy to see them expand their horizons via conductor Jonathan Nott.The Concert Romanesc is an early piece by Ligeti, very much influenced by Bartok but the other works are Ligeti, pure and true with his famous tone clusters. Lontano and Atmospheres make the best impression. The sound is outstanding as it should be.One disappointment is that the playing time is only 54 and a half minutes, which is short measure for a classical CD. Some more music could surely have been added. Nonetheless this Ligeti Project series is terrific. I also recommend the other CD in this series with the Requiem on it.
Stunningly insightful performances of Ligeti s orchestral works - György Ligeti s unique place in 20th Century music, while long admired by the cognoscenti, has yet to become a true part of the standard repertoire of our major orchestras. With the release of this Ligeti Project that situation will hopefully change!On this CD Jonathan Nott conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in full control of the sound produced and, in fact, introducing nuances within these massive clouds of tonalities that open this music to heighten the most seasoned listener s enjoyment. Lontano shimmers, Atmosphères completely surrounds us with at times inaudible but pulsatile movement. Apparitions is one of Ligeti s more popular works and is the embodiment of things that go bump in the night! San Francisco Polyphony is Ligeti at his zenith, with highly sophisticated rhythms and chordal changes that have as much energy and creativity as anything he has written: Nott keeps the wildy/unwieldly fragments tightly strung. The Concert Românesc seems a strange way to end this CD as it is the more traditional, folk melody inspired work and is so easily accessible that it begins to sound more like Bartok and Kodaly than the giant who changed our aural spectrum.This is an exciting selection of works conducted with absolute authority and insight by Jonathan Nott. Though Nott is recognized as a champion for contemporary music, it should be mentioned that this young lad conducts the masters as well: he has audiences basking in Korngold and Mahler at his LA Philharmonic debut! Grady Harp, October 05