György Ligeti

Stanley Kubrick made his own musical choices for his films, many of them existing pieces that were forever redefined by their use. (Remember "Thus Spake Zarathustra" in 2001: A Space Odyssey?) For his final work, Eyes Wide Shut, he employed composer Jocelyn Pook to compose some evocative string-filled music (including one track, "Masked Ball," eerily featuring backwards vocals), but his score also included works by Liszt and Shostakovich, syrupy versions of "When I Fall in Love," "If I Had You," and "Strangers in the Night," a jazzy rendition of "Blame It on My Youth" by Brad Mehldau, Chris Isaak's cross between John Lee Hooker and Roy Orbison on his 1995 song "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing," and, opening and closing the disc, a simple but intense solo piano piece by Gyogy Ligeti, whose work also had been used in 2001 and another Kubrick film, The Shining. The result was an eclectic soundtrack album that primarily was of interest to fans of the film who were in need of an aural souvenir.

For Cantante e tranquillo Keller Quartett leader András Keller and producer Manfred Eicher developed a carefully balanced program based entirely upon slow movements. “Together we began reviewing the recordings we had made over the last twenty years,” says Eicher, “juxtaposing works of different historical eras, uncovering correspondences between composers of the past and the present.” As a contextual frame for the project it was decided to record the slow movements of Beethoven’s Op.130 and 135, add new recordings of Kurtág, and integrate older and newer interpretations of Knaifel, Ligeti and Bach into the album.

This collection of electro-acoustic music from the legendary studios of Cologne's electronic music features the works of some of the field's most seminal proponents, such as Herbert Eimert, whose "Glockenspiel" is here. Also here are early exploratory works by composers who scaled back their investigations in later years, like Gyorgy Ligeti, whose two monumental works from the '50s – "Glissandi" and "Articulation" – are included in the set. Also featured are Herbert Brun, Franco Evangelisti, and the obscure but no-less-important Bengt Hambrauuse and Karel Goeyvaerts. While these may be just names to others, these early pioneers using sine-wave generators; small, primitive sound oscillation systems; tape delay systems; and manual manipulation of speed, timbre, texture, and sonance offered the future something indispensable: they manipulated natural processes of auditory awareness and created a dimensionless area of exploration and discovery which goes on with far more elaborate technology and virtually reaches into the outer dimensions of space and back. This is one of the most important volumes in the series.

This recording presents the double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra of the Spanish composer Francisco Coll, born in 1985. Les Plaisirs Illuminés, a title inspired by Dalí’s painting of the same name, is rooted in Spanish traditions, including flamenco, yet is resolutely modern: ‘Its music is very lively rhythmically, it dances and sings – but at the same time it is very abrupt, always in search of extremes’, says Patricia Kopatchinskaja. For this world premiere conducted by the composer, she is reunited with a longstanding partner who pursues an equally brilliant international career, the cellist Sol Gabetta.

This album celebrates a musical rapport that has lasted for twenty years and, above all, a true friendship: ‘We’re like two sisters, on stage and in life’, as Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta like to say. In parallel with their dazzling solo careers, they have frequently got together for concerts in trio or double concerto formation (like the one written for them by Francisco Coll, recently released on ALPHA580). But they have conceived their new recording for a rather rare combination, the violin cello duo – with the aim of choosing pieces they found interesting either stylistically or for the way they use the instruments.

David Greilsammer ~ Fantaisie-Fantasme
Naïve | 18 aout 2007 | Classical | APE+CUE | 3% Recovery | 267 MB | Covers+Booklet | 76'36"

Beau moment musical offert ici par David Greilsammer. Dans la plus pure tradition de "l’impromptu" pianistique, ces pièces semblent improvisées tant leur naturel est touchant. Elles témoignent a fortiori d’une profonde réflexion dans leur interprétation ainsi que dans leur cohabitation insolite. La composition de l’album répond en effet à une construction aussi rigoureuse et intime que celle d’un recueil de poème, traversée par la même veine mélancolique, la même sensibilité élégiaque. L’artiste a eu la judicieuse idée de placer les pièces d’un programme profondément personnel et éclectique en miroir, autour de la 'Fantaisie en do mineur' de Mozart qui culmine de toute sa gravité au centre de l’enregistrement. Aux côtés de Cage, Schoenberg, Ligeti, Janacek et Jonathan Keren (pièces en création pour l’occasion), même Bach et Mozart, par leur traitement intimiste, apparaissent comme des mystérieux contemporains, un brin romantiques, à nos oreilles. Ce disque nous initie donc avant tout à une sensibilité par-delà les époques balayées et les divergences de style et de répertoire ; preuve que nous sommes bien en présence d’une véritable personnalité artistique. On est particulièrement sensible, notamment, à la façon dont l’artiste joue avec les résonances et les silences de l’instrument : presque un piano métaphysique, par moments. On a l’impression que ce qu’il cherche est derrière, entre les notes, ailleurs semble-t-il. Tout cela nous laisse tendrement rêveur, nostalgique, contemplatif…

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