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 last year. 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.” Ligeti/Beethoven is available for preorder in the Nonesuch Store with high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s included and available to download starting release date.

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.”

Tune in to Q2 Music, WQXR's online new-music station at wqxr.org/q2, every day this week at 11 AM ET (and again at 11 PM) to hear Denk as guest host and pianist-in-residence of Hammered!, the station's show of keyboard music. It's part of Q2's coverage of the month-long American Mavericks festival led by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. And tune in again at 7 PM tonight to watch a live videocast with Denk, MTT, John Adams, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet for performances and conversation. Denk joins members of the SFS and others for an American Mavericks performance in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall this Friday; the program includes works by Steve Reich, Lukas Foss, Meredith Monk, and Morton Subotnick. The St. Lawrence joins MTT and the SFS for the New York premiere of Adams's Absolute Jest at Carnegie Hall tomorrow night.

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.