György Kurtág

...quasi una fantasia... Op.27

I wanted for musicians to not be able to discuss how bad the music was during rehearsals, ' said György Kurtág (* 1926) at his own expense in reference to his works, which call for the use of orchestras scattered throughout the concert hall sounding from different directions and heights. Between 1987 and 1991, he composed four pieces for such stereophonically-used ensembles, each of which, apart from its spatial sound, has its own specific form and profile. The earliest of these is quasi una fantasia, a mini piano concerto which, with its opus number 27 and title, refers to both Beethoven and his piano music, both of which were so crucial for Kurtág s own music. Thework was commissioned by the Berlin Festive Weeks and premiered on October 16, 1988, with Zoltán Kocsis as soloist and Péter Eötvös as the conductor.