Search - Gyorgy Ligeti, Fredrik Ullén :: Ligeti: Etudes Book I & II/Invention/Due Capricci/Trois Bagatelles/Chromatische Phantasie

Some of the great music of the last 50 years

A. Temple | Ann Arbor, MI | 06/25/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to know where to start describing Ligeti's Etudes. They don't sound like the work of any other composer I know, from the hyperkinetic mechanical perpetuum mobile of "Desordre" to the quiet jazz-inflected musings of "Arc-en-ciel", from the offbeat chromatic funkiness of "Fem" to the insane free-improv sound of "Coloana infinita." They are constructed with formidable intellectual rigor, but they are so much more than mathematical exercises -- They are quirky, exciting and beautiful, and each book has a dramatic curve that makes it greater than the sum of its parts. This performance is very good, but slightly too restrained when the music calls for wildness -- I've heard Aimard's performance on the Sony Ligeti Edition, and I remember it being mostly better, although Ullen makes something special out of "Die Zauberlehrling" that Aimard doesn't come close to. Still, the lack of furor in a few places doesn't prevent the CD from being very powerful and enjoyable.The CD also includes some miscellaneous early work of Ligeti, probably to fill up the disk. They're a mixed bag. The "Invention" and "Due Capprici" are wonderful little pieces from Ligeti's early 20s, and are heavily influenced by Bartok with perhaps a dash of 1920s Hindemith. On the other hand, the "Trois Bagetelles" are a stupid conceptual-art joke that really should've been used up by 1961, and the "Chromatische Phantasie" from 1956 is rather forgettable. But that doesn't matter, because this CD would be worth the price for the Etudes alone."

Wow!

Christopher Culver | 12/27/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful music, brilliant performances, excellent sound"

Has a blazingly fast second-place performance of the Etudes

Christopher Culver | 01/28/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This BIS disc is the first of two collections of piano music by Gyorgy Ligeti performed by Federik Ullen. It includes the first two books of the Piano Etudes, three early pieces, and one Fluxus-inspired prank. What this collection really has going for it against performances by other pianists is Ullen's incredible speed in the Etudes.



Ligeti's "Etudes pour piano", with two books completed and one in progress, are among the greatest contemporary works for that instrument. And while I am a great fan of Ligeti's micropolyphonic music of the 1960's and his various recent concertos, I think that it is the Etudes that will come to be seen as his masterpiece. They are incredibly difficult works for the virtuoso pianist, but they are inventive music as well and two major inspirations can be seen. The first is chaos theory and fractal mathematics, and the second is African polyphony. What makes the Etudes particularly fascinating is that some of them are meant to be too fast for any human pianist, and their definitive versions are for player piano. For some of these player piano renditions one should seek out "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition 5: Mechanical Music". Ligeti's favourite merely human pianist is Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who gives a must-have performance of the first two books on "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano".



Federik Ullen's speed is frankly incredible, and his management of the blindingly swift "Zauberlehling", "L'escalier du Diable" and "Coloana Infinita" approaches the kind of inhuman speed reminiscent of Ligeti's player-piano definitive versions. Speed, however, is not everything. Ullen lacks the passion and prowess for dynamic of Pierre Laurent-Aimard, and moments which should have a really strong feel come off feeling flimsy. Compare Ullen's over-light management of the bottom portions of the 'column' in "Coloana Infinitia" with Aimard's. "Fanfares" lacks weight as well. Most disappointing for me is his performance of "Desordre" which frankly seems sloppy and bears little resemblance to Aimard's performance or, I should assume, what Ligeti intended.



The disc is filled out with four earlier works dating from 1948 to 1961. However, though Ligeti was already a relatively mature composer by the end of this time, these works seem like juvenalia next to the magisterial Etudes. An amusing item is the brief "Trois Bagatelles", in which the first consists of a single note, and the latter two have the pianist merely sitting before the instrument; the work is meant as a "friendly jibe" at Cage and his piece 4'33" and, as it didn't appear in the complete works overseen by the composer himself, can be assumed to have been surpressed as juvenalia.



The liner notes are excellent, and even if the performance falls into second place next to Aimard's, you should certainly get this disc for them. There is first a general biography of Ligeti, though fans of the composer's works will probably already be familiar with all this, followed by a description of each one of the Etudes. Though the basic principle is clear in some Etudes, from the fractal geometry of "Desordre" to the blocked keys of "Touches bloquees" to the ascending cascades of chords in "Coloana Infinita", other pieces are more mysterious. Ullen describes not only these foundations, but also the technical challenges that the pianist faces in this demanding work.



Bottom line, get Pierre-Laurent Aimard's performance in "Gyorgy Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano" and discover the technical and witty wonders of the Etudes (plus Ligeti's early set "Musica Ricercata") with the best rendition around. Ullen's performance is a good second performance to get."