György Ligeti

This Alpha Productions release, Mysterious Morning, is the first full-length disc by the Quatuor Habanera, a French saxophone quartet founded in 1993 and dedicated to the exploration of the ever-expanding universe of music being created for this instrumental combination. The main event for many listeners will be the inclusion of a late Iannis Xenakis work, Xas (1987).

On May 28, 2023, composer György Ligeti would have turned 100 years old. French saxophonist Emile Parisien and Italian pianist Roberto Negro approach Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes" - with the means of improvisation and at the same time great respect for the original.

Released between 1991 and 2005, the selections in The Warner Recordings encapsulate the period when Pierre-Laurent Aimard was signed to Erato and Teldec, performing mostly 20th-century fare and some music from the 19th century. Aimard is famous for his contributions to the modernist catalog, and his performances of works by Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, György Ligeti, and Olivier Messiaen are regarded as scrupulously executed and authoritatively interpreted. Aimard also recorded early 20th century pieces by Charles Ives, Alban Berg, Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy, as well as Romantic masterpieces of Beethoven and Liszt. A pianist's pianist, Aimard is well-rounded in his repertoire and a true master of keyboard technique, yet he has received considerably less fanfare than many of his flashier colleagues. Yet connoisseurs of piano recordings know that Aimard is indispensible, especially for his special feeling for French music, and his recordings are important documents that serious students and newcomers should appreciate.

Flowers we are …” brings together piano works by György Kurtág (born 1926) and György Ligeti (1923-2006), two of the most important and internationally successful composers of the post-war era who have one thing in common – Hungarian roots. The recording shows that the four-hand piano character piece also has musical significance and genre justification in contemporary music.

In his opening remarks, Marco Blaauw admits that only latterly did he enjoy the extrovert tendencies of his instrument – and this recital “shows off” in exemplary fashion. Only Hanna Kulenty’s Brass No 1 is a truly abstract study: the first in a cycle of trumpet-centred pieces that puts the double-bell instrument as thoroughly and as scintillatingly through its paces as any music written from a non-jazz perspective.