Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Akutagawa and Opposite Attraction, 4 Sep 2008
Japan's contribution to classical music has been gradually rescued from utter obscurity by Naxos and their excellent series devoted to Japanese composers. This CD, a relatively earlier offering from the series, features the same high quality recording of command performances as the others and showcases the compositions of Akutagawa Yasushi (1925-1989), a fairly popular and well-known cultural figure in postwar Japan (even appearing in Nestle TV ads, of all things) and, in case you're wondering, yes, youngest son of the author Akutagawa Ryunosuke. Akutagawa Yasushi's music can be divided into three distinct creative phases, and this CD includes one key work from each phase, making it an eminently representative encapsulation of a key composer's lifework.
Somewhat inconveniently, the three selections run in backwards chronological order, so that the last one, "Trinita Sinfonica" (1948) is the earliest. Also the most accessible in its sheer musical beauty, this piece still displays the deep influence of Akutagawa's mentors Hashimoto and Ifukube yet in an odd alchemical mix all his own--at once peacefully and harmoniously lyrical and yet stridently and sweepingly dynamic. Passive Yin and active Yang in a carefully balanced dance. The "Ellora Symphony" of 1958 is the very antithesis of this, as if Akutagawa did a musical 180: jarring, fragmentary, atonal, very late 20th-century. And yet this dissonant symphony is strangely meditative nonetheless, suffused with an eerily passionate mysticism inspired by the Ellora cave temples of India with their mix of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain sculptures both voluptuous and ascetic. And with its blend of slow "feminine" and fast "masculine" movements it evinces assured continuity with Akutagawa's earlier work. The final piece and first track, 1971's "Rapsodia per Orchestra" brings all of these diverse and even paradoxical strands into a grand synthesis. Accessibly avant-garde, lyrically dynamic and yet full of harshly disharmonious shocks, this dramatic rhapsody seems to accomplish the impossible even as it underlines Akutagawa's stance that fine music is for everyone.
The liner notes for this tripartite CD are generously extensive as is dependably standard for Naxos, and they do a capable job of introducing the composer and his musical career as well as describing the date and occasion of each selection and analyzing it in painstakingly precise musicological detail. Some of the latter will doubtlessly be a bit above the average amateur listener such as myself, but one can always skim, and the serious classical enthusiast and music lover will find the discussion on a level of sophistication commensurate with their dedicated interest. Which is as it should be with a CD and a classical composer of this caliber. In any case, sit back with your earphones and prepare for the trip of a creative lifetime.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice surprise, 6 Jan 2009
I took a chance when I bought this unknown disc by an unknown (to me) composer, and having made some regretted purchases of modern music in the past I was not anticipating the pleasure this recording gave. I didn't once reach for the stop button, and am looking forward to hearing it often in the future. There is much tunefulness, along with some very satisfying percussion, and the orchestra gives a quality performance. It makes a nice change from my normal diet of standard classical works, and as it's a Naxos disc it's not an expensive risk to take. Thoroughly recommended.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark flamboyance, 7 Mar 2009
The main event of this disk is the darkly flamboyant "Ellora Symphony", a one-movement work of thunderous ups-and-downs. Mysterious and threatening, pounding and shimmering, it's a gritty extravaganza of dissonance and tonality. Well worth the entrance fee alone. The other tracks are also excellent: "Rhapsody" is a punchy and vibrant orchestral piece which swirls in and out of tranquility and playfulness, and the "Trinita Sinfonia's" second movement is yet another reason to admire this composer's style.
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~ Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
~ Hiroshi Ohguri
~ Aleksey Volkov
~ Fumio Hayasaka
