BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
György LIGETI (1923-2006)
String Quartet No. 1 Métamorphoses nocturnes (1953-54) [22:52]
String Quartet No. 2 (1968) [21:00]
Andante and Allegretto (1950) [11:55]
Parker Quartet (Daniel Chong (violin I); Karen Kim (violin II); Jessica Bodner
(viola); Kee-Hyun Kim (cello))
rec. St. Anne’s Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1-3 October 2007 DDD
NAXOS 8.570781 [55:46]
Listening to these quartets makes one regret all the more that Ligeti did not
fulfill his plan to compose a third quartet, as Richard Whitehouse noted in
his accompanying detailed essay. Nonetheless, one can be thankful for the two
outstanding works on this disc. They give ample evidence of a real successor
to Béla Bartók in the genre. These quartets have been recorded
a number of times, but the Parker approach these works as if newly discovered.
My first exposure to them came via the Arditti Quartet in Sony’s Ligeti
Edition, an invaluable compendium (later taken over by Warner as the Ligeti
Project) of the vast majority of the composer’s oeuvre. I still value
the Arditti’s accounts highly, as I do those of the younger Artemis Quartet
on Virgin. Now we have the first “bargain” set by another young
group that I had not heard of before. Right off, I will state that the Parker
Quartet has nothing whatsoever to fear from its illustrious predecessors. It
was also good to include the early Andante and Allegretto, even if it
shows little in the way of hallmarks of the mature Ligeti. The quartets belong
to two distinct stages in the composer’s life: the first from his “Hungarian” period
before he left for the West, and the second from his more experimental years
spent in Germany. How fortunate it would have been if Ligeti had given us an
example late in his life when his compositions became a synthesis of the experimental
and the more folk-oriented music of the earlier period. Alas, it was not to
be.
The Quartet No. 1, while owing no small debt to Bartók, has Ligeti’s
identity firmly stamped on it from the beginning. As Whitehouse points out,
it is in one continuous movement that can be divided into anywhere from four
to eight sections. The Artemis Quartet’s recording has twelve tracks
for the quartet and the Arditti eight, while the present one divides the work
into four sections. I can think of no better introduction to Ligeti than this
work, unless it be his Musica ricercata for piano or the Six Bagatelles for
Wind Quintet, an adaptation of six of the piano pieces from the former work,
both written in the period of the quartet. Indeed, Ligeti quotes the Vivace
energico from the Musica ricercata or the Presto ruvido movement
from the Bagatelles, the wind version of that movement, just before
the “one minute mark” on the third track, following a delightfully
humorous waltz. There is much comedy typical of this composer throughout the
quartet, and the Parkers relish the humour without overdoing it. Their many
slides are more pronounced than those by the Arditti, their pizzicati more
vehement, and their pauses longer. They are obviously having a great deal of
fun with the work, whereas the Arditti and to a lesser extent the Artemis project
greater experience with the work, not to say that either quartet is bored with
it. Having heard this quartet many times in the past, I was struck by their
sheer energy and at the same time the utter stillness of the work’s quiet
sections. They really bring out the contrasts in the quartet better than I
recall hearing before, and their virtuosity is staggering. This may now be
my favourite account of this amazing quartet.
The Quartet No. 2 is a much tougher work to get to know. Written in 1968 for
the LaSalle Quartet, who incidentally made a famous recording of these quartets
for DG, it is in five movements and structurally recalls Bartók. In
every other way, though, this is as representative a composition of Ligeti’s
middle period, as the Quartet No. 1 was of his first period. It begins with
loud unison pizzicato that, as Whitehouse writes, sets the work in motion.
Richard Steinitz in the definitive study on the composer in English, György
Ligeti: Music of the Imagination, describes the quartet as “a wild
zigzag trajectory catapulted out of furious energy into a state of graceful
stasis, choreographed in five movements.” I have had the pleasure of
attending a performance of the work and can say that the visual element is
important in getting to really appreciate it. The most memorable movement for
me is the third, one of those “mechanistic” pieces for which Ligeti
is famous. It is quite similar to the third movement, Movimento preciso
e mecannico of his Chamber Concerto. It is played mostly pizzicato,
run amok, and is microtonal and rhythmically complex. The fourth movement juxtaposes
loud, jagged chords with very quiet moments. The quartet ends by vaporizing
into nothingness, but not before a fleeting episode of melancholy, something
that would be more prevalent in Ligeti’s late compositions. As in the
earlier work, the Parkers are superb and fully the equal of the Arditti and
Artemis recordings. Their sheer virtuosity is evident throughout this demanding
work.
After the second quartet, the Andante and Allegretto comes as quite a shock.
We are now back in a much earlier period - not only Bartókian, but Romantic
even. Yet, it is genuine Ligeti with his own brand of Hungarian folk melody.
In a
way
it
is a nice to end the disc with music that is simple and beautiful. One can
sit back and enjoy the warm sound of this young ensemble. They treat the work
with as much respect as the later and greater quartets.
To have these three works in such outstanding performances, recorded in sound
that is both rich and clear, and at bargain price, is a real treat.
Leslie Wright