Search - Ligeti, Janacek, Debussy Wind Quintet :: Les Nouveaux Interprètes

Fanciful Frolics of Leos Janacek and Gyorgy Ligeti

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 07/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leos Janacek and Gyorgy Ligeti may have been from different times chronologically - Janacek 1854 to 1928 while Ligeti was born in 1923 - but in these delicate and winsome works they show more than a little similarity. The works on this unique album are performed to perfection by the Quintette a vent Claude Debussy (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon) and are joined by the Quatour Parisii with Phillipe Cassard, piano, and Bruno Martinez, clarinet assisting.



The Ligeti works are light and airy and 'micro-concerti' for the various instruments. The 1953 'Six Bagatelles' are quick and light and playful and basically diatonic, not unlike the works of Webern and Poulenc. The 1968 'Dix pieces' assume the later Ligeti's manipulation of sound clusters and 'micro-polyphony' that imbue Ligeti's mature works. The pieces are demanding and the Quintette plays them with grace and finesse.



The Janacek works are beautiful in their simplicity and folk like warmth. The 'Mladi' (Youth) composed the year Ligeti was born is fresh and joyful. The 'Concertino' composed in 1925 finds Janacek more in the realm we know him best - his operas. The transcendent melodies are at times relegated to simple duets and at other times sound nearly symphonic with the addition of the piano.



The performances are first rate and refreshing additions to the library. Highly recommended for lovers of Ligeti and Janacek, for chamber music devotees, and for those who long to hear a broader spectrum of the works of these two fine composers. Grady Harp, July 05"