Ligeti/Beethoven

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

The label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk features Ligeti’s Piano Études, Books One and Two, and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111. "The result is dazzling," says the Observer. "The Ligeti is crisp, nuanced and technically flawless, the Beethoven beautifully shaped and flexible." NPR says: "Denk plays masterfully, opening up each puzzle box in turn with vitality, wit and absolute assurance." The Independent gives the album four stars. The Arts Fuse calls it "revelatory."

Description

Click HERE to read Jeremy Denk's Ligeti/Beethoven liner note. 


Nonesuch releases the label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, Ligeti/Beethoven, on May 15, 2012. The solo recording features Ligeti’s Piano Études, Books One and Two, which Denk memorably performed in a series of recitals in 2011. The New York Times said his reading of the works left “audience members grasping for superlatives at intermission.” The sets of études, six from Book One and seven from Book Two, bookend Denk’s recording of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111, on the album. The Times said of Denk’s 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival performance of the work: “This account, alive to every suggestion and nuance in the score, was an absolute joy to witness. Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination—both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.”

In his Ligeti/Beethoven liner note, Denk explains his reasons for recording these works together: “One curious connection…is the way both Ligeti and Beethoven relate themselves to jazz (and to syncopation, rhythmic dislocation generally). Many people get disturbed, or confused, by Beethoven’s anachronistic boogie-woogie; but I can’t help thinking that however unlikely, this is an outgrowth, too, of ecstasies latent in the holy theme. There is a sense of ecstasy, too, in the discombobulations of Ligeti …

“But the most significant connection for me is between Beethoven’s vast timeless canvas and Ligeti’s bite-sized bits of infinity. Almost every étude visits the infinite; Ligeti uses it almost as a kind of cadence, a reference point. From simplicity, he ranges into unimaginable complexity; he wanders to the quietest and loudest extremes; he veers off the top and bottom of the keyboard. Always the infinite is lurking around, reminding you that it’s not impossible, that it exists. I think of the way, among other things, Beethoven drifts off at the end of the Arietta, the way he indicates ending without ending, implies an infinite space of silence surrounding the work.”

Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation as one of today’s most compelling and persuasive artists with an unusually broad repertoire. He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New World, St. Louis, and San Francisco symphonies, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He appears often in recital in New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia. Denk maintains working relationships with a number of living composers and has participated in many premieres. Denk’s recording of music by Charles Ives, released on his own Think Denk Media label, made many Best of 2010 lists, including those of the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and New York magazine. He also is an avid chamber musician and a respected writer, both on his blog and in such publications as The New Yorker.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Adam Abeshouse
Recorded September 2011 by Adam Abeshouse at SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, Purchase, NY
Mixed and Mastered by Adam Abeshouse

Design by Evan Gaffney
Photography by Michael Wilson

Nonesuch Selection Number

530562

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
Album Status
Artist Name
Jeremy Denk
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Jeremy Denk, piano

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
Price
15.00
UPC
075597962192BUN
Label
MP3
Price
11.00
UPC
075597962185
Label
FLAC
Price
12.00
UPC
075597951103
  • 530562

News & Reviews

  • Pianist Jeremy Denk was on BBC Radio 3's Music Matters on Saturday to talk with presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch ahead of his performance of the complete Bach Partitas at Wigmore Hall in London that night. "Inevitably when I practice, I don't say that I'm doing this, but I kind of take the piece apart and ask myself why every part is there," Denk says. "You don't want to say you're going into the mind of the composer, but you do a little bit. And then I like to feel that every part is justified, that I can make sense of it for myself." You can hear their conversation here.

  • Pianist Jeremy Denk is on Speaking Soundly, a podcast in which host and MET Opera Principal Trumpet David Krauss talks with fellow performers about their creative process and lives as artists, to discuss his acclaimed memoir, Every Good Boy Does Fine, share lessons he learned from numerous piano teachers over the years, and more. You can hear their conversation here.

  • About This Album

    Click HERE to read Jeremy Denk's Ligeti/Beethoven liner note. 


    Nonesuch releases the label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, Ligeti/Beethoven, on May 15, 2012. The solo recording features Ligeti’s Piano Études, Books One and Two, which Denk memorably performed in a series of recitals in 2011. The New York Times said his reading of the works left “audience members grasping for superlatives at intermission.” The sets of études, six from Book One and seven from Book Two, bookend Denk’s recording of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111, on the album. The Times said of Denk’s 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival performance of the work: “This account, alive to every suggestion and nuance in the score, was an absolute joy to witness. Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination—both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.”

    In his Ligeti/Beethoven liner note, Denk explains his reasons for recording these works together: “One curious connection…is the way both Ligeti and Beethoven relate themselves to jazz (and to syncopation, rhythmic dislocation generally). Many people get disturbed, or confused, by Beethoven’s anachronistic boogie-woogie; but I can’t help thinking that however unlikely, this is an outgrowth, too, of ecstasies latent in the holy theme. There is a sense of ecstasy, too, in the discombobulations of Ligeti …

    “But the most significant connection for me is between Beethoven’s vast timeless canvas and Ligeti’s bite-sized bits of infinity. Almost every étude visits the infinite; Ligeti uses it almost as a kind of cadence, a reference point. From simplicity, he ranges into unimaginable complexity; he wanders to the quietest and loudest extremes; he veers off the top and bottom of the keyboard. Always the infinite is lurking around, reminding you that it’s not impossible, that it exists. I think of the way, among other things, Beethoven drifts off at the end of the Arietta, the way he indicates ending without ending, implies an infinite space of silence surrounding the work.”

    Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation as one of today’s most compelling and persuasive artists with an unusually broad repertoire. He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New World, St. Louis, and San Francisco symphonies, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He appears often in recital in New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia. Denk maintains working relationships with a number of living composers and has participated in many premieres. Denk’s recording of music by Charles Ives, released on his own Think Denk Media label, made many Best of 2010 lists, including those of the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and New York magazine. He also is an avid chamber musician and a respected writer, both on his blog and in such publications as The New Yorker.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Jeremy Denk, piano

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Adam Abeshouse
    Recorded September 2011 by Adam Abeshouse at SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, Purchase, NY
    Mixed and Mastered by Adam Abeshouse

    Design by Evan Gaffney
    Photography by Michael Wilson