Review of Játékok; Szálkák; Grabstein für Stephan by György Kurtág, Stradivarius

Italian Translation

Beauty is to me an extremely difficult thing to define .... with a certain objectivity. Beauty and the taste of the observer appear to be two inseparabile things, two sides of same coin, thinking about beauty completely independent by the eyes of an observer ... it's like to think about a piece of art, a wonderful score, which is jealously guarded inside a safe and that nobody will be able to play.
I believe that the quest for beauty leads to the cognition of objects as having a certain intrinsic or extrinsic harmony with nature, which inspires a sense and an experience of attraction, affection, pleasure, health. I think that it might be the case of this record where we can listen to new, fresh, original music, far from certain aspects of perfectionism in itself. This is a record of priceless beauty that brings together a selection of educational Játékok (Games) played by Kurtág himself with his wife, a magic piece for the Cimbalon played by Ildikó vékony and Grabstein für Stephan for classical guitar and other instruments, soloist the excellent Elena Càsoli
Játékok (Games) is not a method for studying piano designed for young learners, but a work that, as the contemporary Hungarian composer said: "suggested by the child who forgets about himself while he plays, that child for whom the piano is still a game.” This is a work that starts by the observation of children's experiences around the music and trying to exorcise these experiences through the recovery of the memory of the trauma of those who approaches to music when they are still young. Szálkák is dedicated to the musician Martha Fabian, who had great influence not only on Kurtag but also on other Hungarian musicians, it’s a work for cimbalon, the Hungarian dulcimer, while Grabstein für Stephan, for guitar and groups of instruments, is a unique piece in a single breathing, characterized by a remarkable dynamic, a " musical tombstone where the guitar of Elena Càsoli plays a frame with simple and linear arpeggios with the other instruments, in a highly emotional enviroment. What shall I say more? Please, give up yourself to this beautiful music.