Tamás Zétényi - Kodály & Ligeti: Sonatas for Solo Cello, Ligeti: Sonata for Viola Solo (2023) [Official Digital Download]

An intense and highly sought-after cellist on the Hungarian classical, contemporary, and improvisation scenes, for his first solo disc Tamás Zétényi has selected some of the most important solo string instrument pieces of the twentieth century: this album features solo sonatas by Kodály and Ligeti. In three works by two Hungarian composers, we can trace how the solo string genre, founded by Bach, was suddenly revived in the twentieth century. Kodály’s grandiose cello sonata intones with the intimacy of a soliloquy, deploying folk-music inspiration and the new harmonic world of Impressionism alongside the Bachian prototypes.