Bartok, Ligeti, Kurtag - Metamorphosis (2010)

Three transformative works by three Hungarian composers—Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91; Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1; and Kurtag’s 12 Microludes for string quartet, Op. 13—conspire to create a program steeped in the incessant sonics of the 20th century.

Cuarteto Casals—violinists Abel Tomàs and Vera Martinez, violist Jonathan Brown, and cellist Arnau Tomàs—deliver a profoundly exciting performance of these challenging pieces.

The Bartók presents intense sonorities and prolonged pizzicato passages (often demanding a sharp “snap back” sound on the fingerboard), but it is the sense of mystery, not technique, that the Casals capture to great effect.

The Ligeti is a like an “E” ticket on a sonic roller coaster fraught with ever-shifting dynamics and rhythmic drive. It, too, is steeped in nocturnal moods that offer no respite for the ensemble, which are instructed to play the eight movements without a break. At one point, the instruments play close to the same register in a blinding wave that feels deceptively void of meter or pulse.

Once again, mystery is the name of the game in Kurtag’s wonderfully imaginative and highly advanced 12 Microludes, a 1978 work that represents his latter foray into the world of string-quartet composition. The piece is dedicated to the cellist, conductor, and composer András Mihály and was a gift to him on his 60th birthday. The title references Bartók’s Mikrokosmos though musically it is grounded in Bach’s The Well Tempered Clavier as well as the music of Webern, but the goal is to capture the essence of raw emotions.