The great viola player Kim Kashkashian has long been one of the\nmost outstanding protagonists of modern composition and this bold\nand subtle account of solo music by the great Hungarian composers\nGyörgy Kurtág and György Ligeti is a landmark recording. Kurtág’s\nSigns, Games and Messages (1989- in progress) in its 19 aphoristic\nsections is as demanding as Ligeti’s Sonata for viola (1991-94),\nbut Kashkashian surmounts the very different challenges of the\nworks, and points towards the qualities that unite these composers.\nAs ever, she gets to the heart of the music, and unravels its\nsecrets.

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In his liner note, Wolfgang Sandner comments: “For twenty years\nKim Kashkashian has devoted herself to Kurtág’s complex oeuvre for\nthe viola and developed a remarkable rapport for the relation\nbetween compositional fabric and sonic nuance. In the thoughtful\ndramaturgical sequence of this recording, and in Kashkashian’s\nscrupulous reading, these Kurtág pieces, and the six movements of\nLigeti’s Viola Sonata that follows them, seem like the work of a\nsingle visionary artist – conveyed in hidden signs and coded\nmessages.”

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Amongst her many notable albums for ECM New Series, Kashkashian\nhas recorded Kurtág’s Movement for viola and orchestra (4654202)\nand also his Nine Pieces for Solo Viola, the early Jelek for viola,\nop 5, and the chamber work Hommage à R.Sch. (4379572). This is the\nninth disc on the label devoted in whole or in part to Kurtág’s\nmusic.

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Kurtág & Ligeti: Music for Viola

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Kurtág:

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Signs, Games and Messages, for strings

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Ligeti:

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Sonata for Viola Solo

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Kim Kashkashian (viola)

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