The Ligeti Project, Vol. 2

1	Lontano, for orchestra
2	Atmosphères, for large or
3	Apparitions, for orchestr
4	Apparitions, for orchestr
5	San Francisco Polyphony,
6	Concert Românesc, for orc
7	Concert Românesc, for orc
8	Concert Românesc, for orc
9	Concert Românesc, for orc
The Ligeti Project, Vol. 2
1.	Lontano, for orchestra 11:45
	Composed by György Ligeti
	Conducted by Jonathan Nott
	Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
2.	Atmosphères, for large orchestra 8:57
	Composed by György Ligeti
	Conducted by Jonathan Nott
	Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
3.	Apparitions, for orchestra 8:41
	Composed by György Ligeti
	Conducted by Jonathan Nott
	Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
4.	San Francisco Polyphony, for orchestra 12:56
	Composed by György Ligeti
	Conducted by Jonathan Nott
	Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
5.	Concert Românesc, for orchestra 12:08
	Composed by György Ligeti
	Conducted by Jonathan Nott
	Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Barnes & Noble

There is nothing in the orchestral repertory quite like György Lgeti's Lontano (1967) and Atmosphères (1961). You might call them abstract tone poems, though they are more like sonic environments -- washes of sound that swell and crash over you. This is music that really needs to be experienced live, but as it's unlikely an orchestra near you will be playing them, these superb performances by the Berlin Philharmonic are the next-best thing. Turn up the volume, close your eyes, and enter Ligeti's world. Apparitions is an earlier work (1959), and while the effect is more pointilistic, one can hear echoes of the mature composer in the music's shivering delicacy and grotesque humor. San Francisco Polyphony (1974) could be termed a "middle period" work, with its textural density that recalls the Chamber Concerto of 1970 and other virtuoso soundscapes. The surprise here is a first recording of the Concert românesc (Romanian Concerto) of 1951. Unabashedly tonal and based on Romanian folk songs, it gives no hint of the musical developments to come -- except, perhaps, in the fourth movement's pungent "wrong notes," coloristic detail, and unflagging rhythmic energy. Sony Classical's aborted Ligeti series was one of the most exciting recording projects of the 1990s. How marvelous that Teldec has taken up the torch and is running well into the 21st century with the flame of Ligeti's musical genius. Andrew Farach-Colton

New York Times

The performances are by the Berlin Philharmonic under Jonathan Nott, who must certainly receive much of the credit for these scores' new power. The music may have been moving that way of its own accord, but its full self-realization owes much to Mr. Nott's keen precision and equally keen understanding as well as to the orchestra's vivid and willing response. Paul Griffiths

Gramophone

A must-have release. Fabrice Fitch

Detroit Free Press

All should give thanks.... Ligeti's beguiling music is an aural light show of flickering and shimmering densities. Rhythms dissolve into clouds of color; wisps of melodies emerge then vaporize. Mark Stryker