Concerto Budapest and the Hungarian Radio Choir are commemorating the artist with a concert of four emblematic works of his, with the singers Tetiana Zhuravel and Szilvia Vörös serving as the two soloists for the concert. Two decades younger than Ligeti, Péter Eötvös will make for the most fitting possible conductor for the evening.
"It is my wish that nothing be named after me, but if it must, it should be the 'György Ligeti Dead End'." The artist once expressed this sentiment at the end of an interview after having confessed a few sentences earlier, "I am deeply dissatisfied with myself (…) I am constantly searching, but I can't find my own language and I always do something new." It is thanks to this constant search for a way forward that the composer's œuvre is full of exciting twists and turns. This centenary concert brings to life four stages in Ligeti's journey of discovery: works that have developed lives of their own, three of them orchestral and the fourth an oratorio. Melodien (1971), Clocks and Clouds (1972/73), San Francisco Polyphony (1973/74) and Requiem (1963-65) all represent the part of the composer's output from his years in the West, giving us the opportunity to encounter phenomena such as micropolyphony, the sound cloud, and the "meccanico" character. Tetiana Zhuravel and Szilvia Vörös, the singers joining the Hungarian Radio Choir and Concerto Budapest, are outstanding representatives of the younger generation, and Péter Eötvös was not only a lifelong friend of the older master's, he is also one of the leading experts on his works.
Ligeti: Melodien
Ligeti: Clocks and Clouds
Ligeti: San Francisco Polyphony
Ligeti: Requiem
