Arditti 4

From the introduction by Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini, Scientific director Isabella Scelsi Foundation: “This double CD again makes it possible, after a long interval, to experience the pleasure of listening to the complete version of the string quartets by Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) in the masterly interpretation by the Arditti Quartet, accompanied by two cornerstones of his production, Khoom and the Trio for strings. The CD was recorded shortly after the death of the Maestro and constitutes a precious witness for two series of reasons.

Over and above his legendary career as leader of the Arditti Quartet, Irvine Arditti has worked on many solo projects and is still today one of the foremost interpreters of the music of our time. Over the past decade he has given the world premieres of a whole host of large-scale works written especially for him. His approach to the contemporary violin is fascinating. The works by Salvatore Sciarrino, Elliott Carter, Emmanuel Nunes and Pierre Boulez assembled in this album are among the most widely known in the recent repertory for violin, both on account of the transcendental character of the pieces themselves and the impetus they have given the instrument’s technique, but also and above all because of the accomplishment manifest in the variety of their modes of expression.

This ambitious and beautifully produced two-CD set includes nearly all of Iannis Xenakis' chamber music for strings, piano, and strings and piano combined. Chamber music constituted a small part of the composer's output, since large ensembles and large forms were vehicles more commensurate with the aesthetic of his monumental, granitic music. There are no small pieces here, though; in each of these works, ranging from solos to a quintet for piano and strings, Xenakis was able to express his uncompromising vision no less ferociously than in his orchestral works. While all of the pieces have an elemental character, many with a visceral punch, the actual sound of the music is surprisingly varied, and the individual works have distinctive and individual characters. In spite of the weightiness and rigor of the music, the tone is not necessarily heavy, and some pieces, like Evryali for piano and Dikhthas for violin and piano, have moments of what could almost be described as whimsicality.

After what seems like years of delay, Mode has released this CD of chamber and vocal music in time for Elliott Carter's 95th birthday, which fell on Dec. 11, 2003. It was worth the wait. The Quintet for Piano and Strings (1997) is one of the two or three pinnacles of Carter's prolific eighties. Though undeniably an example of the his late style, it harks back to the First Quartet (1951!) in its long-lined writing for strings. The music is expansive and concise, light-hearted and dramatic all at once, and it is played to perfection by Ursula Oppens and the Arditti Quartet, the performers for whom it was written.

For some time now, I have been saddened by the seeming disappearance of the "true" musical avant-garde. Yes, there have been some promising new releases from young composers eager to experiment; Rebecca Saunders, Jason Eckardt, and some of Matthias Pintscher's work come to mind, though it's difficult to tell whether these efforts will be sustained. Luciano Berio is dead.

Irvine Arditti has been responsible for having given the world premières of a number of large scale works especially written for him. These include Xenakis’ Dox Orkh and Hosokawa’s Landscape III, both for violin and orchestra, as well as Ferneyhough’s Terrain, Francesconi’s Riti Neurali and Body Electric, Dillon’s Vernal Showers, Harvey’s Scena, Pauset's Vita Nova, Reynolds Aspiration and Sciarrino's Le Stagioni Artificiali all for violin and ensemble. He has also been responsible for the creation of many solo works including both of Ferneyhough’s solo violin works, Intermedio and Unsichtbare Farben. He was also responsible for inspiring John Cage to complete his Freeman Etudes giving the first complete performance of them in 1991.

All Music Guide
Among contemporary music ensembles, perhaps none is more ambitious or daring than the brilliant Arditti String Quartet, which presents three virtuosic modernist works on this Wigmore Hall Live release. The metric complexities of Conlon Nancarrow's short, etude-like "String Quartet No. 3" (1987) test the player's rhythmic precision and linear independence, while the ensemble's cohesion and balance are challenged in the 12 epigrammatic sections of Henri Dutilleux's "String Quartet, Ainsi la Nuit" (1973-1976). But while both of these works are undeniably impressive for the great difficulties they present, the tour de force of this recording is György Ligeti's enormously demanding "String Quartet No. 2" (1968), a masterpiece of extended string techniques and sonorities that is a bold continuation of the explorations of Béla Bartók; yet this work is an intense musical experience in its own right, for all the stark contrasts of material and fantastic experimentation. Listening to this disc in one sitting can be invigorating or exhausting, depending on one's experience and inclination toward avant-garde string quartet music; since the density of detail is high, there is a lot to absorb here, and all three string quartets require the sharpest attention. Yet the Arditti String Quartet is a superb guide to these uncompromising pieces, and the group's exuberance and phenomenal playing undoubtedly made this April 9, 2005, concert enjoyable for its audience. The reproduction is remarkably vibrant and almost palpable in its presence.

—Blair Sanderson