Steve Schwartz inquires:

>Has anyone heard Salonen's recording of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre? How is
>it?

What I have on Sony is Salonen conducting the Philharmonia in a grab-bag
of Ligeti which includes something called Mysteries of the Macabre.
This is a distillation by Elgar Howarth of the opera Le Grande Macabre,
distillation into a chamber work, that is, and one that boils down mostly
to the three soprano arias of Le Grande.  It is elegantly zany in the sense
of a Hieronymus Bosch painting or,if you wish, a Rube Goldberg cartoon.
For me, Salonen is the only conductor able to sort out Ligeti.  With him,
I've found that I'm given a chance at least of grasping what it's all
about.  Takes a cool analytical type to do this, and such must be Salonen.
Sybille Ehlert's coloratura is miraculous, considering what Ligeti requires
her to do.  I guess I like Ligeti because I'm thankful he didn't become one
of those Hungarian nuclear physicists.  Sure was calculating enough.

Denis Fodor                             Internet:[log in to unmask]