program:
Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006)
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1966) 14:25
[01] I quarters = 40 06:52
[02] II Lo stesso tempo 07:33
Nicolas Altstaedt, cello
[03] Mysteries of the Macabre for solo trumpet in C and chamber orchestra (1974-1977 / arr. 1991) 08:15
(Arr. by Elgar Howarth)
Marco Blaauw, trumpet
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1985-1988) 21:53
[04] I live very ritmico and precisely 03:50
[05] II Lento e deserto 05:48
[06] III Vivace cantabile 04:10
[07] IV Allegro risoluto, molto ritmico 04:33
[08] V Presto luminoso, fluido, constante, semper molto ritmico 03:33
Alberto Rosado, piano
Total playing time 44:38
plural ensemble
Fabian Panisello, conductor
Press:
February 2015
March 2015
29.01.2015
The PluralEnsemble conducted by Fabián Pansiello presents a wonderfully light-footed CD with three concert works by György Ligeti. György Ligeti's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1966) occupies an important position in the music history of the 20th century. It is one of the earliest works of the European post-war avant-garde, in which a composer deals with the question of how virtuosity can be redefined when extremely high demands are made not only on the solo instrument but also on the orchestral instrumentalists. Consequently, Ligeti conceived a work in which the cellist appears as a soloist among other soloists. The new recording by Nicolas Altstaedt and the PluralEnsemble under the direction of Fabián Pansiello, released by NEOS - it forms the prelude to a wonderful, but unfortunately also quite short CD at 45 minutes - makes this tangible: As if out of nowhere, the long stretched one first takes The opening note of the solo cellist takes shape before other instruments – strings and clarinets – join in and immediately blur the identity of the solo presence with their tones. In the clear recording, which is extremely transparent in terms of sound, the listener can penetrate deeply into the musical processes that follow: the gradual development of registers, the fanning out and gradation of tonal colors, but also the almost soundless groping of the soloist on the fretboard, which at times changes into a gentle scurrying, but then it also transitions into the beginnings of a cantilena or into more energetically articulated passages. As a counterpart to the cello concerto and the musical approach realized there, the ensemble recorded Ligeti's five-movement concerto for piano and orchestra (1987–88) with the light-footed and at times almost playful soloist Alberto Rosado. Two decades later, the composer once again approaches the concert form with this piece in a completely different way: the bands of sound of the earlier work are replaced by complex, interlocking polyrhythmic structures which – depending on the orchestral instruments involved – often make use of different harmonic systems and give each sentence a very individual colour. In this case, too, Ligeti's instrumental disposition is underlined by the clarity and dynamic richness of the recording, whereby Rosado's playing never comes to the fore too much, but always remains perceptible as part of the whole. Between these two works are placed the 'Mysteries of the Macabre' - very skilfully circling the musical turning point of the composer in the 1970s - a decoupling of three arias from the first version of Ligeti's opera made in 1991 by the conductor Elgar Howarth and authorized by the composer ' Le Grand Macabre' (1974–77). The short work is heard here in the alternative version for trumpet and chamber orchestra and thus fits seamlessly into the panorama of concert music shown on the CD. Marco Blauuw masters the edgy profiled coloraturas with enthusiasm and perfection, the progression of which – like the entire piece – is full of rhythmic refinements and surprising twists and turns. The interaction with the orchestra musicians, who occasionally also speak, creates music that is almost bursting with theatricality, full of crazy moments and ironic breaks.
Stefan Drees
fnac.com
09.01.2015
Three concertos de György Ligeti qui décollent
This new album on the label NEOS commence l'année en beauté avec trois pièces concertantes de Gyorgy Ligeti Directed by the chef and Spanish-Argentinian composer Fabian Panisello à la tête de sa formation le plural ensemble : le tres court concerto pour violoncelle, mysteries of the macabre, for trompette et orchestra de chambre et le concerto pour piano.
Le court concerto pour cellelle dont Nicolas Alstaedt est ici le soliste, ne comprend que deux movements qui sont en fait un enchainement de 27 fragments. Un seul fragment forme le 1er movement, principalement base sur une note tenue par le violoncelle. Le mouvement debute de façon à peine perceptible avec le violoncelle en solo (ne relevez pas le volume !) et va en s'amplifiant au fur et à mesure que les autres instruments se joignent au soliste. Une partie plutôt linéaire et statique en opposition avec l'agitation du mouvement suivant, qui content les 26 other fragments, en contrastes et en ruptures les us avec les autres. Enfin le violoncelle reprend le leadership et “boucle la boucle” en allant d'un pianissimo à l'extinction complète.
La piece centrale, Mysteries of the Macabre, est tirée you Grand Macabre, unique opera de Ligeti. Cette “suite d'opera” mérite néanmoins sa place entre les deux concertos. En effet, son arrangement pour soprano et orchestra par le chef Elgar Howard peut also être joué en version trompette et orchestre, avec ici comme soliste le trompettiste Marco Blaauw, soloist aguerri au repertoire contemporain. Comme l'opéra, l'écriture est basée sur a multitude de collages, de citations et de clins d'œil musicaux qui donnent an impression de grand bazar loufoque, ponctuée par les interventions vocales des musiciens.
If you want a concerto for piano and many movements, don't let the soloist Alberto Rosado est lui aussi un grand spécialiste de la musique contemporaine, notamment en tant que membre du Pluralensemble. Au départ le concerto ne content que XNUMX movements, mais Ligeti en ajouta par la suite cinq autres qui lui semblaient offered une meilleure conclusion à la pièce. Les percussions y jouent un grand role. Si la partie de percussion est au départ écrite pour un seul instrumentiste, Ligeti lui-même recommande de la confier à deux voire trois percussionnistes, en raison de sa grande complexité. Cette pièce est également très exigeante pour le soliste qui doit lui aussi faire preuve d'une grande maitrise rythmique et d'une grande virtuosité. Tout à fait typique d'un certain mode d'écriture de Ligeti, ce concerto fait souvent intervenir la technique du collage (citations, cellules musicales, rythmes). La forme finale est ainsi basee sur a multitude de structures rythmiques pas toujours perceptibles à l'écoute. Selon Ligeti, si la pièce est bien jouée, elle doit “décoller comme un avion”. Et de mon point de vue ça décolle parfaitement avec this version !
Tous les protagonistes de l'album arrivent à tenir une grande rigueur d'interpretation qui leur permet de bien transmettre à l'auditeur la complexité des compositions mais cela n'entrave aucunement leur engagement et leur enthousiasme tout à fait perceptible dans ces œuvres qui dégagent une incroyable energy.
SMALL CROSS-SECTION
A fairly short but meaningfully composed cross-sectional program with works by Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006): The two-part cello concerto (1966) stands between the delicately floating, ethereal micropolyphony of the epochal orchestral work Atmospheres and the expressive, humorously grotesque gestures that Tie Adventures for three voices and instruments. The Mysteries of the Macabre (1991) are an arrangement of three arias from Ligeti's anti-anti-opera Le Grand Macabre (1974-77) for trumpet and chamber ensemble. With its caricature-like, yet highly entertaining mix of styles, this piece takes on the role of scherzo on this disc, so to speak. This is followed by the five-movement piece composed in 1985-88 piano concert as 'grand finale'. Micropolyphony has been largely abandoned here in favor of a network of clearly drawn, colour-contrasting lines and a rhythmic and metrical hyper-complexity.
The cello concerto begins as if from another world (soloist: Nicolas Alstaedt) beyond the threshold of hearing – the first note really comes out of nowhere and at first it is not possible to say which instrument produced it. Basically, the cello concerto is also a piece of chamber music, in which the soloist only has a slightly raised voice. The extensively required plural ensemble under Fabian Panisello acts here as usual on an equal footing with the soloists. Marco Blaauw shines with the coloratura-rich trumpet part Mysteries, Albert Rosado rushes through the ramifications of the piano concerto with playful drive.
All interpretations are characterized by a detail-friendly transparency as well as a light-handed access despite all clarity. Although the bizarre exaltations of Mysteries just as the corners and edges of the piano concerto come into their own, the impression of effortless music-making prevails even where the music begins to overturn. In this way it can really 'take off', as the composer expressly wished for in the case of the piano concerto.
Rating: 15 out of 20
George Henkel
Awards & Mentions:
February 2015