# György Kurtág's Játékok (Games) for piano



## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

György Kurtág's Játékok (Games) for piano.

What are people's thoughts about these miniatures?

Right now the only recording I have is of the Kurtágs on ECM.

I've been thinking about purchasing the two releases from Hungarian pianist Gábor Csalog but literally cannot find any reviews or opinions about the pieces.

Has anyone heard them/have an opinion about them?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

By complete coincidence I listened to some of the Csalog Jatekok today, for about 15 minutes, I enjoyed what I heard, and I think Csalog's Beethoven and Chopin is outstanding. But I'm not able to say more than that, I can't comment any more - on the merits or demerits of Csalog compared with Mr and Mrs Kurtag's recording, for example. Except to say that Csalog is very well recorded, at the level of sound it is engaging. And it is serious, this is not playful sounding to me (which is a good thing I'd say . . . ) 

On the music, I enjoy it in small doses, as part of a programme. There's a recording with Kurtag at the piano playing it with some of his Bach transcriptions which I think is a fabulous thing. And I remember once seeing Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne play some of them in a mainly Schubert programme, and that was fun too.

I'm not really sure what the purpose of Jatekok is, what Kurtag was trying to do. Hopefully someone will enlighten me here!


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Thanks for the reply Mandryka. I ended up ordering the two above as well as Fredrik Ullén's recording pairing Kurtág with Schubert. He is a pianist I really admire, so I thought it would be a safe purchase.


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