Reviews

Review: Ligeti in the "Orgelpark"

09.10.2008

"[...] In 1966 Ligeti wrote Lux aeterna. It has now become one of the choral classics, and not only because Stanley Kubrick used fragments of it in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey. For this sixteen-part piece the Nederlands Kamerkoor sang from the upper gallery of the Orgelpark, with the result that the long vowels and harmonic clashes provided a constantly changing light pattern.
After the last notes of Lux aeterna had died away, conductor Klaas Stok continued conducting for a while. This was prescribed by the composer, but the symbolism of the silence was more far-reaching than that. If, following the cut in subsidy that has been announced, the Kamerkoor becomes an ensemble of freelancers, it will never again prepare such a wonderful programme just for a single afternoon concert in Amsterdam.”

Guido van Oorschot in de Volkskrant of 23 September 2009

[...] It was not only the late Romantic sounds of Ligeti’s earliest compositions from 1945/46 that were a feast for the ear. Conscientiously prepared by conductor Klaas Stok, ‘Éjszake’ and ‘Reggel’ from 1955 were also a delight - portents that the composer would become increasingly unfettered after 1956. Standing in two rows of eight on opposite sides of the balcony, the singers concluded the concert with the timeless masterpiece Lux aeterna (1966). With this piece Ligeti’s style of composition, matured over a long time, with its ‘bunches’ of notes, or clusters, reached its apex. Following its final ethereal sounds, Stok carried on beating in silence for a while, and so virtually conducted us into eternity.”

Kees Arntzen in Trouw of 23 September 2008