Search - Kurtag, Kocsis, Tompkins Vocal Ens :: Portrait Concert: Works from 1961-1992

Excellent music - average presentation

Neil Lewis | Kitchener, Ontario Canada | 07/02/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kurtag is certainly one of this century's greatest composers, and the selection of works here is well-chosen, spanning most of his career, from his Op. 1, first string quartet, written when he was in his forties, to works of recent years. The pieces are generally well-performed and comparable to those on other discs. Adrienne Csengery seems particularly well-suited to Kurtag's emotonally unstable style, and the Keller Quartet work well. Kurtag fans will also be delighted to have pieces such as Samuel Beckett: What is the Word and In Memorian Stephan Stein on CD, two excellent works. However, the recorded sound and atmosphere is disappointing. The miking seems removed from the performers, distancing the entire experience, to which the greater-than-average amount of audience noise also contributes. Additionally, other pieces, such as the selections from Jatekok, and the aforementioned first string quartet, are available on other CDs, there better-performed and packaged. With the exception of What is the Word, printed in its originally language and a translaition to German, the liner notes and words to vocal works are not in english, frustrating when a sizable portion of the disc is poetry set to music. Caveats aside, the strength of the writing and sometimes-breathtaking performances come through and this disc does offer a well-rounded introduction to Kurtag's career, a reasonable place to start for a new-comer."