My good pal and follower Mithrandr asked me to look into Gyorgy Ligeti quite a while back now. And he alluded to the Ligeti Project - which from what I can tell, is a 5 or 6 album compilation of different experiments he tries on the piano. I've held off for all this time because it's really hard to find information about him and that series of works. But in going through suggestions again today, I came across it and noticed I could do this particular album. Ligeti was born in 1923 and died in 2006. He was born to a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania. He grew up in very tough times, during Hitler's reign on the world. All of this family was sent to concentration camps with his mother and himself being the only survivors. Music was in his mind as a young child and then after the war, he went to school to study it and become a composer. Hungary was also in it's on war - so Ligeti fled and became a citizen of Austria. Ligeti fell ill at the turn of the millennium - and had to use a wheelchair the last couple years of his life. And although various people knew he was sick, his family refused to release the cause of death when he passed. Odd story. In classical music circles, he is extremely well respected for his compositions and piano anthems. In popular culture, Ligeti is forever linked with Stanley Kubrick as he scored 2001: A Space Oddessy and The Shining. I don't often listen to solo piano works, but I adore the piano itself. Kind of an odd paradox. I enjoyed listening to this - but it's probably not something I'd toss on often. I just don't have a practical time of my day to listen to this brand of music. It's good though, and if you're a classical nut - this is very worth tossing on.
TRACK LISTING:
Please See Samples
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks:
1. Ricercata 7
2. Itudes Premier 5
3. Itudes Deuxihme 4
FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars
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