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Amazon.co.uk Review
Make no mistake, Gyorgy Ligeti's piano Etudes are a crucial to contemporary musical culture and equal to the hype they've received since the first book appeared back in 1985. The key lies not in their musical, but in their sonic variety, drawing a vast range of textures and sonorities from a keyboard idiom rooted in Chopin and Debussy, yet sounding utterly of today. Unlike their studies, Ligeti's work best when heard separately or in small groupings: hence the boon of having the complete series (as of 1995), so that you can programme your own selection. Try the sensitive "Cordes a vide" or the moody "Automne a Varsovie", music of strong emotion and atmosphere. If some of the later etudes seem more like musical conjuring tricks than fully-fledged statements, remember that this music, sometimes serious but never solemn, aims to entertain as well as enlighten. Aimard's performances are technically jaw-dropping and convey Ligeti's rhythmic experiments to perfection. The coupling, Musica Ricercata is early 1950s Ligeti: manic invention--especially in the final homage to Frescobaldi--seeking expressive focus. --Richard Whitehouse
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Aimard's breath-taking performances of Ligeti's Etudes can stand test of time for his amazing technical refinement and exquisite sense of tonal colours. His interpretation is more in line with impressionists and messiaen, in sharp contrast to Fredrik Ullén's complete recording of Ligeti Etudes and other solo piano works (BIS), which is more masculine and whose emphasis is more on complexity of the structure rather than on tonal colours. The both are outstanding account of these incredibly original works to enhance your listening experience.
Fredrik Ullén / BIS 2CD Ligeti: Complete Piano Music
Fredrik Ullén / BIS 2CD Ligeti: Complete Piano Music
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is particularly committed to contemporary music. He has been the soloist in several premieres of works by Boulez, Stockhausen, and György Ligeti. These recordings of Ligeti piano works, taped in December 1995, feature Aimard masterly playing the first two books of etudes, Musica Ricercata, and the world premiere recording of a piano etude of the third book. The interpretations of these highly virtuosic pieces are mesmerizing and the music itself so strongly beautiful and charismatic, breathtaking and fascinating. No surprise that some extracts from Musica Ricercata have been used by movie director Stanley Kubrick in his Eyes Wide Shut. Add a nice CD packaging with liner notes by the composer himself (explaining his influences that include modern jazz piano), a fabulously natural and dynamic recorded sound of the piano and a low price. Absolutely recommended.
7 of 12 people found the following review helpful
In his own word 'using only an idea from African notions of movement', Ligeti has introduced effectively polyrhythmic ideas in many of his piano pieces. Ideas usually found in modern jazz and free jazz are developped and organised by Ligeti, making use for instance, in L'escalier du Diable, of fractal theory. Aimard's knowledge of Jazz piano technique is certainly a bonus.
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