Peter Herwitz praises a CD of...
>...Pierre-Laurent Aimard at Carnegie Hall. I have heard little of Aimard
>in the past but that will soon change. He is a superb player, sensitive,
>nuanced, with a tremendous technique and command of structure...
>
>The program consists of the Berg piano sonata, Beethoven Appassionata,
>Liszt Legendes No. 2, some Debussy Images, some Ligetti Etudes, and
>one piece from Messaien's Vingt Regardes. ...quite a disc and a
>revelation.
As are Aimard's various Ligeti recordings. Teldec's The Ligeti Project,
Vol 1, with Reinbert de Leeuw conducting the Asko Ensemble, includes his
Piano Concerto -- but I think that series was discontinued. Pierre Boulez
also chose Aimard as the soloist on his own recording of Ligeti's PC
(Deutsche Grammophon 439 808-2).
In what must be a record of another kind, Aimard also plays Ligeti
for a third label: Sony. Two CDs in their series are especially
recommendable: one has works for four-hands piano and two pianos, for
organ, for harpsichord, and some for piano solo (62307); another collects
Ligeti's solo piano works (62308). This last features Aimard; in the
former CD he plays secondo to Irina Kataeva.
This varied CD made a superb starting point for me in the music of Ligeti,
who was then new to me. But if Aimard's what you're after, the solo piano
CD is a no-brainer.
>Ahh the feeling of money well spent (when you don't have much money it's
>important not to waste it on stinky cds but rather on good ones;)
I gather the Carnegie Hall recording is already nla -- so, while sad for
the rest of us, your $ was doubly well-spent. Maybe as a result of the
Teldec experience, however, the mentioned Sony CDs are at mid-price.
Bert B, in Ottawa
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