Latest news with #Ligeti
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ligeti: Violin and Piano Concertos, etc album review – As always, Faust's performance is perceptive and immaculate
The huge stylistic shift that György Ligeti's music underwent in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of the most remarkable and unexpected changes of direction of any composer, perhaps only comparable with Stravinsky's shift into neoclassicism in the 1920s and his adoption of serial techniques in the 1950s. The language that Ligeti invented for himself, which invested tonality with a whole new set of relationships and incorporated elements from a variety of non-western musical traditions, was unveiled in his Horn Trio of 1982, but it was in the two major concertos that followed, for piano in 1988 and violin in 1993, that the full power of his new language was revealed. Both are remarkable works, which seem utterly fresh and original, yet identifiably remain part of the concerto tradition. It's no surprise that the violin concerto particularly has been taken up by a number of soloists, or that Isabelle Faust should have wanted to add her reading to the series she has made for Harmonia Mundi. It is a typical Faust performance, perceptive, technically immaculate, and just a little on the cool side, and it's paired with an equally accomplished, if a little more mechanical, account of the piano work with Jean-Frédéric Neuburger as soloist. Neuburger also includes Ligeti's early, Bartókian Concert Românesc, while Faust leads performances of two of György Kurtág's Aus der Ferne sequence, as exquisite interludes. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Listen on Apple Music (above) or Spotify
Economic Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
The devil's staircase
Cathy Krier's 2024 rendition of Gyorgy Ligeti's 'L'Escalier du Diable' (The Devil's Staircase) is a breathtaking descent into the abyss of sound - a relentless, towering piece that challenges both pianist and listener. In the Luxembourger pianist's hands, this hard-driving toccata - fast-moving, lightly-fingered composition - transforms into a terrifying yet mesmerising spectacle, a staircase that seemingly ascends beyond human limits. Ligeti's 1993 work, part of the Hungarian composer's 'Etudes' (Studies), is a study in perpetual motion, filled with asymmetrical rhythms, ferocious clusters and escalating intensity. Krier's precision is surgical. Yet, her interpretation breathes with unsettling vitality. She captures the demonic urgency of the ever-ascending lines, where each repeated motif feels like an impossible, Sisyphean climb. Her touch balances stark violence with eerie delicacy, ensuring that even in moments of crushing dissonance, a spectral beauty lingers. Listening to 'L'Escalier' is a psychological experience, a labyrinthine sonic spiral. It's a masterpiece of controlled chaos, one of Ligeti's most thrilling, gripping pieces.
The Guardian
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Uproar review – shimmering premieres showcase the dynamism of Welsh new music ensemble
In the context of a diminishing Welsh landscape – about which there needs to be a concerted uproar – the success of Wales's new music ensemble, which happens to call itself Uproar, is all the more important. Under conductor and artistic director Michael Rafferty, their presentation of György Ligeti's Chamber Concerto – a piece described by the composer as one for 13 concertante soloists – underlined just what a dynamic force they have become. Their programme opened with Hrím, written by Anna Thorvaldsdottir as a companion piece to the Ligeti: it unfolded with Thorvaldsdottir's customary poise, its crystalline textures comparable to the hoarfrost of the old Icelandic title, the celeste giving glistening touches. By contrast, Floating Theatre by Kiko Liteng Shao, the first of three premieres by Welsh or Wales-based composers, was inspired by the ebb and flow of waves and her perception of the musicality of water. Chinese cymbals were among the percussion instruments sharpening the palette, with the greatest theatricality coming in the last section where the audience, using their mobile phones, added the sounds of birds. This final aerial dimension permitted the piece its necessary lift. David John Roche's Harm Reduction was buoyant and energetic, indulging memories of his own rock and metal beginnings, with Ben Smith's piano solos emerging from the melee – at first slightly Elton John and later just schmaltzy, helping to convey unselfconscious hedonism. Imagin'd Games by Ashley John Long, the ensemble's double bassist, revisited the Iron Age hill fort that was his childhood stamping ground. Reflecting on time and history, it was fluent and had moments of strange beauty. Ligeti's concerto – getting its Welsh premiere, as was the Thorvaldsdottir – was the culminating glory of this concert. The fluttering, fluctuating shimmer of its opening established the aura that makes this a seminal work of the later part of the 20th century. The quiet vibrancy of the second movement, its flurry of urgency then returning to stillness, achieved another mesmerising atmosphere, with the precision and brilliance of the last two movements setting the seal on a fine performance. Ligeti's instrumentation somehow managed to sound densely fabricated yet translucent, all expressively realised, the clarity of the Dora Stoutzker hall's acoustic allowing the Uproar players' virtuosity to be heard and warmly appreciated. At Soar theatre, Merthyr Tydfil, on 22 March, and Rhosygilwen, Cilgerran, on 23 March
