Ligeti and Friends
Kit Armstrong

 Friday / 3 Mar / 19:30 h.
  90 min
 14 y 16 €
MUN Theatre

Described by The New York Times as a "brilliant pianist," Kit Armstrong uses Ligeti's La Musica Ricercata as the thread of a musical journey that presents the Hungarian composer's connections to other great masters.

György Ligeti's Musica Ricercata (1951 - 1953) is one of the works that best reflects the main musical quests that the composer developed and that contributed to build his own compositional style. Kit Armstrong uses the eleven movements of the work as the guiding thread of a musical journey that presents the connections of Ligeti's music with that of great masters such as J.S. Bach, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, B. Bartok, J.P. Sweelink and G. Frescobaldi. Frescobaldi.

Since Kit Armstrong entered the international music scene twenty years ago, he has held a lasting fascination for music lovers. Today he maintains an active career as a pianist, composer and organist. He performs as a soloist on major international stages such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic and Tokyo Suntory Hall, and his name appears with some of the world's finest orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, NHK Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and St Martin in the Fields Academy.

ARTISTIC FILE

Kit Armstrong, piano

PROGRAM

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #1

J. S. Bach - Kunst der Fuge 1-4

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #2-4

F. Chopin - Waltzes Op 34 #2, 3

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #5-7

(pause)

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #8

F. Liszt - Teleki

B. Bartok - Elegie #2

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #9-10

J. S. Bach - Kunst der Fuge #8

J. P. Sweelinck - Chromatische Fantasie

G. Frescobaldi - Ricercar cromatico

G. Ligeti - Musica ricercata #11

G. Ligeti - Der Zauberlehrling, Arc-en-ciel

ARMSTRONG KIT

Described by The New York Times as a "brilliant pianist" who combines "musical maturity and youthful daring in an exceptional performance", Kit Armstrong is invited as a soloist by most of the world's top orchestras, while maintaining an active career as a recitalist and composer. He regularly performs in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philharmonie in Berlin, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, NHK Hall in Tokyo, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, etc. He collaborates regularly with conductors like Christian Thielemann, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, etc. In recent seasons he has made his debut with orchestras such as the DSO Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony or the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony. Passionate about chamber music, Kit Armstrong has developed close artistic alliances with other instrumentalists and singers. His recordings include solo albums "Liszt: Symphonic Scenes" and an album dedicated to music by "Bach, Ligeti and Armstrong", both with Sony Classical. In 2017 he recorded a DVD from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (Unitel) under the title "Kit Armstrong plays Bach's Goldberg Variations, and its predecessors", becoming a landmark recording of Bach's famous work (according to BBC Music Magazine).

Alfred Brendel, who has guided Armstrong as his teacher and mentor since 2005, describes him as "a pianist who understands the great piano literature combining freshness and subtlety, emotion and intellect." 

RELATED ACTIVITIES

3 MAR / 18:00 The artist is on Campus. Masterclass with KIT ARMSTRONG