Györgi Ligeti Masterworks (sony Classical Masters

Arditti String Quartet; Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Sibylle Ehlert; Christiane Oelze; Steven Cole; London Sinfonietta Voices

Sony Classical proudly announces an uncommonly attractive new batch of reissues from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor/BMG back catalogues. This latest installment of the popular series showcases the reissue of a path-breaking composer edition as well as recordings by some of the labels’ greatest artists of the last half century. Included in this batch are nine albums dedicated to one of the indisputable geniuses of modern music. Sony Classical’s landmark “Ligeti Edition”, recorded under the great Hungarian composer’s supervision and first released on single albums in 1996, will now be available internationally in a complete set. This famous project needs little additional commentary. Fanfare called it “a must for any collector or interested listener”. Enough to say that it features such authoritative interpreters of the composer’s endlessly fascinating works as Pierre-Laurent Aimard playing the staggeringly difficult and beautiful Études and other piano works, the Arditti Quartet giving benchmark readings of the String Quartets and Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the orchestral works and the definitive recording of Ligeti’s operatic masterpiece Le Grand Macabre, which Gramophone called “the key opera of the end of the twentieth century”. Salonen’s ideally cast recording of the final revised version, sung in English, “is the one to have – Ligeti’s revisions are all improvements, and the performance is a fine one” (Gramophone).CD 1 · String Quartets & DuetsString Quartet No. 1 “Métamorphoses nocturnes”String Quartet No. 2 · Hommage à Hilding RosenbergBalada˘ ¸si joc · Andante and AllegrettoArditti String QuartetCD 2 · A Cappella Choral WorksÉjszaka · Reggel · Idegen földön · MagányKét kánon · Betlehemi királyok · Bujdosó · Lux aeternaLakodalmas · Inaktelki nóták · Mátraszentimrei dalokPápainé · 3 Phantasien nach Friedrich HölderlinMagyar Etüdök · Haj, ifjúság! · Húsvét · HortobágyMagos ko˝sziklának · Kállai ketto˝sLondon Sinfonietta Voices · Terry EdwardsCD 3 · Works for PianoÉtudes pour piano · Musica ricercataPierre-Laurent AimardCD 4 · Vocal WorksNonsense Madrigals The King’s SingersMysteries of the MacabreSibylle Ehlert · Philharmonia Orchestra · Esa-Pekka SalonenAventures · Nouvelles AventuresPhyllis Bryn-Julson · Rose Taylor · Omar EbrahimPhilharmonia Orchestra · Esa-Pekka SalonenDer Sommer Christiane Oelze · Irina KataevaHárom Weöres-dal · Öt Arany-dalRosemary Hardy · Pierre-Laurent AimardNégy lakodalmi tánc Rosemary Hardy · Eva Wedin · Malena Ernman · Pierre-Laurent AimardCD 5 · Mechanical MusicContinuum · Hungarian Rock · Capriccios Nos. 1 & 2Invention · Musica ricercata Pierre Charial barrel organPoème Symphonique for 100 MetronomesFrançoise Terrioux metronomesÉtudes pour piano (exerpt) · Continuum Jürgen Hocker player pianosCD 6 · Keyboard WorksInduló · Polifón etüd · Haróm lakodalmi tánc · Sonatina · AllegroIrina Kataeva & Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano 4 handsCapriccios Nos. 1 & 2 · Invention Irina Kataeva piano3 Pieces for 2 Pianos Irina Kataeva & Pierre-Laurent Aimard pianosPassacaglia ungherese · Hungarian Rock (Chaconne) · Continuum Elisabeth Chojnacka harpsichordRicercare – Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi · 2 Studies for Organ · Volumina Zsigmond Szathmáry organCD 7 · Chamber MusicTrio for Violin, Horn and Piano “Hommage à Brahms”Saschko Gawriloff · Marie-Luise Neunecker · Pierre-Laurent Aimard10 Pieces for Wind Quintet6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet London WindsSonata for Solo Viola Tabea ZimmermannCD 8 & 9Le Grand MacabreSibylle Ehlert · Laura Claycomb · Charlotte Hellekant · Jard van NesDerek Lee Ragin · Graham Clark · Steven Cole · Richard Suart · Willard WhiteFrode Olsen · Martin Winkler · Marc Campbell-Griffiths · Michael LessiterLondon Sinfonietta Voices · Philharmonia Orchestra · Esa-Pekka Salonen