Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #889995 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

Some of his strongest pieces, but this is the Japanese import
This is the Japanese edition of the fourth disc of Warner Classics' fresh and exciting Ligeti Project--the US version is considerably easier to obtain. The Ligeti Project is a continuation of Sony's "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition" attempt to put the great composer's entire body of work on disc. This installment contains the composer's recent "Hamburg Concerto" as well as two other works performed by the Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble. If you're new to Ligeti, this is worth getting because it contains his "Requiem", one of his most famous and also most accessible works, in a new performance by the Berliner Philharmonik.

In the "Hamburg Concerto" (1998) Ligeti presents a work which seems superficially simple and common, but which teems with inventiveness underneath. Primarily for horns, it also contains an lovely harp interruption, and the drumming seems inspired by the African music which the composer explored in the 90's. Even when he was quite old and had a 60-year career behind him, Ligeti continued to write interesting music.

The "Double Concerto" (1972) is an exploration of the differences between flute and oboe. It begans as a quite soothing piece, but in its first movement grows to mournfulness through solitary sustained high notes. The second movement is more lively with a great deal of orchestral involvement. "Ramifications" (1968-69) is a minor work in which half of its twelve solo strings are tunes a quarter-tone lower than the other half. Ligeti then explores the surreal interaction among the strings. The performance here seems solid, but I find its recording too "dark", and prefer the Ensemble Intercontemporain/Pierre Boulez performance, recently reissued by Deutsche Grammaphon, which is considerably clearer.

For all that comes before it, "Requiem" (1963-65) is clearly the highest point of the disc. The complexity and power of the piece makes it a real chef d'oeuvre. Beginning with a slow "Introitus", the work moves into a stunning "Kyrie", in which the threatening murmurs of over 100 singers create a complex web of sound occasionally broken by ingenious orchestral interruptions. The following "De die judicii" is dedicated mainly to the idiosyncratic vocal experimentations of solo soprano and mezzo-soprano. The piece ends with ever diminished strength, as if symbolising the one being laid to rest. Though this piece acheived popularity through its use in the final portion of Kubrick's "2001", I find this live version from 2002 to be much better than the first performance of the 60's.

My only complaints about the CD concern the liner notes. The English translation of Ligeti's (German language) comments is not so faithful to the original. There are also a couple of ads in the booklet.

This is a must-have disc for fans of Ligeti, and an ideal starting-place for The Ligeti Project. The glorious new "Requiem" brings me back frequently.