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Ligeti’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

Apr. 04, 2011

Ligeti’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra receives a performance by The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble and the Ostravská banda on April 13 at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Under the baton of Petr Kotik, the concert features works from their recent European tour, as well as several premieres by emerging composers. Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle joins the ensemble as they take on Ligeti’s complex and enthralling work.

Founded in 1970 as the S.E.M. Ensemble, and expanding into the larger-scale Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble in 1992, the group focuses on performance and advancement of contemporary music, with much of the repertoire written specifically for the orchestra. The Ostravská banda, established more recently in 2005, started as the resident chamber orchestra for the Ostrava Days Festival in the Czech Republic, and is comprised of top young musicians from Europe and the United States. Still holding its position as chamber orchestra-in-residence, but also regularly performing independent of the festival, this chamber ensemble’s primary focus similarly lies in the performance of new music. Conductor Petr Kotik offers his thoughts on Ligeti's concerto:

A first look at the score of Ligeti’s Concert for Piano makes a confused impression. While studying and rehearsing the music—the polyrhythms, different meters occurring simultaneously, the so called “unplayable” passages—a clear and straightforward picture emerges. Beyond the complex calligraphy, one finds a clear musical world. This is important for the ensemble musician to realize, even more so than for the conductor. The less one reads the music analytically, especially in the complex passages, the more precise and together the playing will be.

Ligeti’s disregard of how “one is supposed to compose” often brings him to solutions that are close to Feldman’s, Cage’s and other composers, mostly Americans. He would probably be surprised by this comparison, because his scores are written so differently from, let’s say, Feldman’s. But, in the end, a 4 against 3 figure, or estimating instead of exactly measuring a passage that goes against the rest of the ensemble will be performed the same way, whether it is in Ligeti’s or Feldman’s handwriting.

The unsettling state of the world we live in, the enormity of problems we face every day without anyone suggesting real solutions is perhaps the reason for the ultra-conservative environment of our time. Never before, in the whole history of music, would half-century-old works be regarded as contemporary (only 40 years separates Wagner from Mozart, for example). The rejection of the unfamiliar (nevermind the new) started already in the 19th century. I still remember voice teachers recommending that their students not sing Wagner for fear of ruining their voices. In the early years, Ligeti encountered asimilar attitude and it is nice to see the change. The question asked now is not whether the music is playable, but how to play it.

For more details on the performance visit: www.carnegiehall.org.

Information on the life and work of György Ligeti can be found at: www.schott-music.com.

György Ligeti
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
1(pic.).1.1(alt-ocarina in G).1-1.1.1.0-perc- str. (8.7.6.5.4; solo string section [1.1.1.1.1])
22’

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