Ligeti: Étude No. 10 'Der Zauberlehrling' (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)

In 1985 György Ligeti produced an entire volume of piano etudes, to which he added two further volumes in the following sixteen years. Quite a few people in New Music circles then reacted with a lack of appreciation and understanding: Whereas the lively piano etude tradition of the 19th century – inextricably linked with Czerny, Chopin or Liszt – was continued by Bartók, Debussy or Stravinsky at the beginning of the 20th century, this tradition no longer existed by the end of the 20th century. The etude appeared to be a relic from another time.

Ligeti had various reasons for these compositions: He was concerned to revive a great musical tradition and to explore its potential in a contemporary form. Furthermore he liked to play the piano himself, although with “inadequate pianistic technique”, as he once remarked. Apparently, it was sufficient to create some of the most difficult works for piano in the entire piano repertoire: “The anatomical situation of my hands and the configuration of the piano keyboard determined the products of my imagination.” His piano etudes have also to be seen in the context of his admiration for the great piano literature from Bach to Debussy. Furthermore they are exercises in polyphonic writing and playing technique, with polyphony here having to be understood in a considerably expanded sense. For Ligeti’s piano writing is not only polyphonic in the customary sense, but also polyrhythmic, poly-temporal, and even poly-ethnic (he uses material from very different European and non-European musical cultures – from the Balkans via Africa to Asia). In the end, his piano etudes are considerably more than mere technical exercises. Each piece is at the same time a poetic miracle, transcending its given musical and technical tasks.

London‐based pianist Reinis Zarins makes his debut recording for Champs Hill Records with ‘Circus and Magic’. Born in Riga in 1985, he is a prize‐winner in eleven international piano competitions and performs regularly with leading orchestras in Latvia for broadcast on national radio and TV, and has been recognized with national awards. He has performed at the Lucerne Festival, Bath Musicfest and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

Ernest Bloch, essentially a romantic composer torn between his natural instincts and modernist trends, produced his character sketches The Four Circus Pieces for private performance but was eventually persuaded to publish them. One is dedicated to “the sad and ever‐comprehending Charlie Chaplin” whom Bloch admired. He sent the music to Chaplin, himself a skillful composer, but received no reply.

Included on this album are three pieces by Debussy, including his firework display in Feux d’Artifice, a fantastic display of inventive piano‐writing, and Masques , inspired by the Commedia dell'arte as painted by Watteau - a blend of joy and pathos. Marguerite Long, who studied with Debussy, wrote: “I hear Masques - a tragedy for piano one might call it - as a sort of transparency of Debussy's character … He was torn with poignant feelings which he preferred to mask with irony”.

Three Pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet music for Cinderella follow: Intermezzo creates wonderful imagery of the Waltz guests danced to at the ball; Gavotte - played during a scene in which Cinderella takes a broom as her dancing partner; and Slow Waltz, the penultimate number in the full ballet, which is played as the Prince and Cinderella dance together in an enchanted garden. Even when divorced from their orchestral colour, these pieces still possess a strong tactile feeling and a sense of wonderment.

Ligeti's eighteen Études have become modern classics. Étude No.10 (Der Zauberlehrling) dates from 1994 and is named after the celebrated Goethe poem which inspired Dukas to write his symphonic poem/scherzo The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

This recital disc concludes with Three Pieces from Petrushka by Stravinsky arranged in 1921 from the 1911 original, and dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein. Danse Russe is taken from the music in Tableau One to which Petrushka and the other puppets dance after being brought to life, and is followed by In Petrushka’s Room. The Shrovetide Fair, with its evocation of a teeming crowd, completes the set. With these pieces, Stravinsky stated his intention of writing something essentially pianistic ‐ in no way an imitation of the sound of the orchestral score.

Nonesuch releases the label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, Ligeti/Beethoven, on May 14, 2012. The solo recording features Ligeti's Piano Études, Books One and Two, which Denk memorably performed in a series of recitals in 2011. The New York Times said his reading of the works left "audience members grasping for superlatives at intermission." The sets of études, six from Book One and seven from Book Two, bookend Denk's recording of Beethoven's Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111, on the album. The Times said of Denk's 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival performance of the work: "This account, alive to every suggestion and nuance in the score, was an absolute joy to witness. Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination-both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing."

In his Ligeti/Beethoven liner note, Denk explains his reasons for recording these works together: "One curious connection...is the way both Ligeti and Beethoven relate themselves to jazz (and to syncopation, rhythmic dislocation generally). Many people get disturbed, or confused, by Beethoven's anachronistic boogie-woogie; but I can't help thinking that however unlikely, this is an outgrowth, too, of ecstasies latent in the holy theme. There is a sense of ecstasy, too, in the discombobulations of Ligeti...

"But the most significant connection for me is between Beethoven's vast timeless canvas and Ligeti's bite-sized bits of infinity. Almost every étude visits the infinite; Ligeti uses it almost as a kind of cadence, a reference point. From simplicity, he ranges into unimaginable complexity; he wanders to the quietest and loudest extremes; he veers off the top and bottom of the keyboard. Always the infinite is lurking around, reminding you that it's not impossible, that it exists. I think of the way, among other things, Beethoven drifts off at the end of the Arietta, the way he indicates ending without ending, implies an infinite space of silence surrounding the work."

Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation as one of today's most compelling and persuasive pianists with an unusually broad repertoire. He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New World, St. Louis, and San Francisco symphonies, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He appears often in recital in New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia. Denk maintains working relationships with a number of living composers and has participated in many premieres. Denk's recording of music by Charles Ives, released on his own Think Denk Media label, made many Best of 2010 lists, including those of the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and New York magazine. He also is an avid chamber musician and a respected writer, both on his blog and in such publications as the New Yorker.

The latest release in this series features works by György Ligeti, Kiyoshi Furukawa, Gerhard Stäbler and Francis Bowdery.

Gifted Chinese pianist Yuja Wang debuts on DG’s roster with an album featuring compositions by Chopin, Ligeti, Liszt, and Scriabin. Yuja Wang chooses pieces that, in her judgment, are refreshingly atypical of the customary musical perspectives of these composers. Exceptional artistry, technical perfection, and a rare ability to evoke an uncommonly vivid palette of rich colors from the instrument characterize Yuja Wang’s pianism

After blazing through Ravel’s Concerto for Left Hand, the Miami Herald wrote, “The evening’s spotlight belonged to Yuja Wang . . . [who] showed remarkable fire and iron-fingered power."