MUSICA VIVA22

Ligeti: Lontano; Murail: Le désenchantement du monde; Benjamin: Palimpsests Pierre-laurent Aimard (piano); Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/ George Benjamin

Neos 11422 (hybrid CD/SACD) 62:17 mins

This is special. Three utterly captivating, ear-tickling pieces by composers from successive generations in superlative performances from Munich’s ever enticing Musica Viva concerts. Ligeti’s Lontano is the established work, the sustained remoteness of its slow-moving kaleidoscope imbued here with a remarkable radiance by the Bavarian Radio Symphony under George Benjamin. A linked diptych from the turn of the century, Benjamin’s own Palimpsests is typically gripping, with multi-layered textures of varying speeds and characters colliding, merging or bouncing off each other in ways that are superficially chaotic, yet ultimately drawn from the same well. While Benjamin’s earlier recording of the work (Nimbus) was impressive, it is superseded by this exceptional performance which, like the other works, is recorded live in vibrant surround sound capturing a genuine sense of atmosphere and tense excitement not undermined by the occasional cough.

The centrepiece of the disc is the world premiere performance of Tristan Murail’s impressive piano concerto Le désenchantement du monde with the ever-sensational Pierre-laurent Aimard as soloist. The scale and gestures of the work suggest the grand Romantic pianists and it is no surprise that Murail had Liszt’s First Piano Concerto and B minor Sonata in mind. To these could be added elements of Scriabin, Bartók and Messiaen, along with Murail’s own rich spectral soundworld, laid especially bare at the opening. There are delicate, shimmering moments and also galumphing bombast, building energy that is sometimes dissipated slowly, but often released in dizzying flurries. Like the Benjamin and Ligeti it is an enthralling masterpiece.