Pierre Boulez; John Cage; George Crumb; Morton Feldman; Michael Gielen; Mauricio Kagel; Gyorgy Kurtag; Gyorgy Ligeti; Jorge E. L Julkaisija: SWR Classic (2021) CD-levy
Lera Auerbach; Johann Sebastian Bach; Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber; Gyorgy Kurtag; Alfred Schnittke; Helena Winkelman Julkaisija: Linn Records (2022) CD-levy
Alpha Asu: CD-levy Vuosi: 2025, 14.02.2025 Kieli: und
Benjamin Appl met Hungarian composer György Kurtág in 2019 and has worked with him ever since. "He has shaped me both as a musician and as a human being, perhaps more than anyone else," says Appl. This album alternates Romantic German lieder by Schubert and Brahms with vocal pieces by Kurtág, five of which are world premiere recordings. Kurtág himself is at the piano for two of the songs by Schubert and Brahms, while the German baritones old and trusted friends Pierre-Laurent Aimard and James Baillieu join him for the other works in this programme, all under the artistic direction of Kurtág, ending with a fascinating recorded interview with Gyuri bácsi ("Uncle George") by Benjamin Appl, who tells us: "My aim in this album is to give listeners a glimpse into the infinite universe of György Kurtág, a shy procrastinator, stern self-critic, hesitant researcher, introverted questioner, unpretentious intellectual, brilliant composer and an extraordinary human being."
