Nicholas Kenyon 

Bartók, Ligeti CD review – a finely balanced double bill

The full range of Ligeti’s brilliance is on display here, with Hideki Nagano the standout soloist
  
  

György Ligeti, c1975.
György Ligeti, c1975. Photograph: Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

If you had to bet on which composer’s music from the later years of the 20th century will stand the long test of time, top of the list would surely be the Hungarian György Ligeti (1923-2006). The three concertos recorded here are totally contrasted, from the bubbling whimsy of the piano concerto (1986/88), through the darker, half-heard rustles of the much rarer cello concerto (1966), to the piercing originality of the superb violin concerto (1992), already firmly in the repertory. These are finely balanced ensemble performances, with Hideki Nagano outstanding in the piano work; excellent balance and rhythmic sharpness also characterise the more familiar Bartók classics on the companion disc.

Watch a trailer for the album
 

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