Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988)
Quatuor à cordes n° 1
Trio à cordes
Quatuor à cordes n° 2
Khoom, pour soprano, 2 violons, alto, violoncelle, cor et 2 percussions
Quatuor à cordes n° 3
Quatuor à cordes n° 4
Quatuor à cordes n° 5

Michiko Hirayama, soprano
Frank Lloyd, cor
Maurizio Ben Omar, percussion
Quatuor Arditti

Irvine Arditti, violon
David Alberman, violon
Levine Andrade, alto
Rohan de Saram, violoncelle

Aldo Brizzi, direction

From the introduction by Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini, Scientific director Isabella Scelsi Foundation : “This double CD again makes it possible, after a long interval, to experience the pleasure of listening to the complete version of the string quartets by Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) in the masterly interpretation by the Arditti Quartet, accompanied by two cornerstones of his production, Khoom and the Trio for strings. The CD was recorded shortly after the death of the Maestro and constitutes a precious witness for two series of reasons. Firstly, because some of the interpreters – Michiko Hirayama, Aldo Brizzi, the Arditti Quartet – are among those who collaborated the longest and most closely with Scelsi, giving first-ever performances of some of the works included here; also, the disc was the first, historic production of the then newly-instituted Fondazione Isabella Scelsi, with first-rank international partners (Salabert and WDR-Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln) and the project and coordination by Aldo Brizzi. To accompany the disc, we propose again Harry Halbreich’s notes of 1989 for the first publication : among the pioneers of Scelsi studies, he illuminates the works with reflections and an analytical approach which are surprisingly of our time. The notes are an effective guide to the listener, leading us by the hand into Scelsi’s world of sound, ‘a creative journey pursued without the least concession".