Joonas Ahonen - Ligeti: Concertos (2017)

Described as one of the most innovative and influential among progressive figures of his time, György Ligeti was able to constantly reinvent himself. In his earliest works, written in Communist Hungary, where he kept his most daring compositions to himself, the musical language is often an extension of that of Bartóks. Escaping Hungary in 1956 he was able to revel in the freedom to experiment with electronic techniques as well as elaborate serialism but he was forever sceptical of schools and steered his own course throughout life. The 1960s and early 70s were a highly productive period heraldeding works such as Lux Aeterna and Lontano, as well as three of the works on the present disc. In the Cello Concerto and the Chamber Concerto, Ligeti explores in different ways the idea of the concerto as something collective, rather than polarised between the one and the many. The Cello Concerto is striking, and even provocative, in that the soloist often seems to aspire to silence and even absence rather than virtuosic display. The Chamber Concerto, on the other hand, dazzles because here all 13 players are unmistakably present, all essential to the design and character of the whole. Like the Cello Concerto and the Piano Concerto Melodien can be performed by large orchestra, but also, as on the present recording, with a single string player per part, becoming a natural pendant to the Chamber Concerto. The disc closes with the Piano Concerto from 1988, which Ligeti had begun sketching eight years earlier but was only able to proceed with after having composed his first set of studies for piano solo. Ligeti himself described the five-movement work as a statement of his aesthetic credo. Performing these complex scores is the Norwegian specialist ensemble BIT 20 under the Swiss conductor Baldur Brönnimann, with cellist Christian Poltéra, and pianist Joonas Ahonen making his first appearanceon the BIS label.

TRACKLIST
01. Cello Concerto : I. — - Christian Poltera
02. Cello Concerto : II. — - Christian Poltera
03. Chamber Concerto : I. Corrente - BIT20 Ensemble
04. Chamber Concerto : II. Calmo - sostenuto - BIT20 Ensemble
05. Chamber Concerto : III. Movimento preciso e meccanico - BIT20 Ensemble
06. Chamber Concerto : IV. Presto - BIT20 Ensemble
07. Melodien : Melodien - BIT20 Ensemble
08. Piano Concerto : I. Vivace molto ritmico e preciso - Joonas Ahonen
09. Piano Concerto : II. Lento e deserto - Joonas Ahonen
10. Piano Concerto : III. Vivace cantabile - Joonas Ahonen
11. Piano Concerto : IV. Allegro risoluto, molto ritmico - Joonas Ahonen
12. Piano Concerto : V. Presto luminoso - Joonas Ahonen

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