The string quartets of
György Ligeti
have been recorded several times, but they pose severe challenges for performers. The two quartets are quite different in character and require a real pivot; the
String Quartet No. 1 ("Métamorphoses nocturnes")
of 1954 inhabits the world of
Bartók
's quartets, extending it a bit, while with the
String Quartet No. 2
of 1968, one is in the sonically experimentalist world of the music used in the film
2001: A Space Odyssey
. Some players put an aggressive edge on
Ligeti
's music, but the
Verona Quartet
lets the avant-garde content speak for itself, and in so doing, it produces performances that emphasize
's links to the Hungarian tradition. Sample the
, which, for all its extreme sounds, has a five-movement structure that
often used. Another draw is the presence of a rarely played
Andante & Allegretto for string quartet
from
's student years; this, too, emphasizes the continuity of
's works in this medium. Italy's
Dynamic
label records the quartet in an auditorium at Goshen College in the U.S. state of Indiana, perhaps because the group has served a residency at Oberlin College in neighboring Ohio. Whatever the case, it is an ideal venue that smudges none of the detailed effects in the
. Well worth hearing for
fans, this performance seems more laid-back than those supervised by the composer himself, but composers, it has been demonstrated over and over again, aren't always right about their own works. ~ James Manheim