Previously unreleased historical recordings of Kurtag pieces played by the Kurtag couple

Most of the compositions now have a history of nearly four decades, and this naturally entails a change in the way they are seen. The first books of Jatekok (Games) are today, perhaps unjustifiably so, seen as a piano method - as if the pieces were intended not so much for concert performance as for honing the technique and musical thinking of piano learners. The various selections made by the composer, including the more or less coherent series played by the Kurtags in concerts (and in the groups of works on this disc), have since the late 1970s persuaded the public that these compositions, satisfactorily organized, are far from being study pieces but are important stages in Kurtag's work as a composer. Since the notation of these pieces differs in places from customary notation, we are fortunate in having access to authentic performances of most of them; the special significance of this disc is that most of the recordings were made very soon after the works were written. It is an imprint of the composer's vision at the time of writing, preserving something of the direct experience that nurtures the fresh wonder of novelty.
These recordings are made particularly important by the sensual aspect of this music-making. Recording technology has changed enormously over the decades but the listener is immediately placed close to the works themselves, and concentrates on them alone. The listener pays attention not to how the recording sounds, but to what can be heard. They will understand that the almost tangibly present authenticity is not simply because we hear performances by the composer and performances congenial to him but it shows without fail the clear form, the sensitivity to structure, the nuanced agogics and astonishing suppleness - artistic wholeness...
(based on Andras Wilheim's booklet text)

Track Listing

• Games: In memoriam Gyorgy Szoltsanyi (V/43)
• Games: In memoriam Lajos Vass (VI/38)
• Games: Con slancio (III/59)
• Games: Hommage a Andras Mihaly (III/58)
• Games: Shadow-play (4) (Hommage a Gyorgy Somlyo) (III/56)
• Games: Labyrinthine D (III/53)
• Games: Silence (Hommage a Szervanszky) (III/36)
• Games: Hommage a Petrovics (III/27)
• Games: Hommage a Domenico Scarlatti (III/40)
• Games: Harmonica (Hommage a Laszló Borsody) (III/41)
• Games: Obstinate A flat (III/60)
• Games: Tumble-bunny (III/16)
• Games: Shadow-play (3) (III/18)
• Games: Hommage a Kabalevsky (II/17)
• Games: Hommage a Marta Kurtag (III/50)
• Games: Palm Stroke (1) (I/2)
• Games: Palm Stroke (2) (I/2)
• Games: 'The Mind Will Have Its Freedom...' (II/4)
• Games: Play with Infinity (III/2)
• Games: Scherzo (III/9)
• Games: Flowers we are... (2) (I/10)
• Games: Bluebell (II/23)
• Games: Thistle (III/14)
• Games: Stubbunny (III/44)
• Games: Micro-rondo (I/19)
• Games: (messzenezo szep konyoklo) [= 12 Microludes no. 10] (II/42)
• Games: Hommage a Andre Hajdu [= 12 Microludes no. 11] (II/43)
• Games: Portrait (2) (III/12)
• Suite for Four Hands I. Vivace
• Suite for Four Hands II. Andantino
• Suite for Four Hands III. Tempo di Minuetto
• Suite for Four Hands IV. Con fuoco
• Games: Hand in Hand (Hommage a Sarkozy) (IV/3)
• Games: Dot and Spot (Hommage a Laszlo Sary) (IV/5)
• Games: Hommage a Verdi (sopra: Caro nome che il mio cor) (I/4)
• Games: Hommage a Mihaly Halmagyi (IV/6)
• Games: Wandering in the Past - A Ligatura for Ligeti (VII/26)
• Games: Antiphon in F sharp (II/34)
• Games: Dirge (2) (III/38)
• Games: Dirge (VIII/7)
• Games: Fugitive Thoughts about the Alberti Bass - for Andras Szollosy (VII/14)
• Games: Stubbunny (III/44)
• Games: Flowers we are... (For Miyako) (VII/41)

Additional Details

Label: BMC Records

Genre: Classical

Run Time: 41 mins

Release Date: 06/03/16

UPC: 5998309302336