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Wu Man, Yuri Bashmet - Tan Dun: Pipa Concerto; Toru Takemitsu: Nostalghia; Hikaru Hayashi: Viola Concerto (2008)

Posted By: Designol
Wu Man, Yuri Bashmet - Tan Dun: Pipa Concerto; Toru Takemitsu: Nostalghia; Hikaru Hayashi: Viola Concerto (2008)

Tan Dun: Pipa Concerto; Tōru Takemitsu: Nostalghia; Hikaru Hayashi: Viola Concerto (2008)
Wu Man, pipa; Yuri Bashmet, violin & viola, conductor; Moscow Soloists; Roman Balashov, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 301 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 205 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Onyx | # 4027 | Time: 01:18:02

Tan Dun's Concerto for String Orchestra and Pipa (1999) is a reworking of one of his most popular works, Ghost Opera, written for and recorded by the Kronos Quartet. In this version, the composer's characteristic polystylism – which here includes Chinese folk song, Copland-esque Big Sky music, quotations from Bach, and vocalizations by the orchestra – comes across as a jumble, without much of a strong vision holding the disparate elements together. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man, who appeared on the Kronos recording, plays the concerto with energy and delicacy. She's ably accompanied by the Moscow Soloists, led by Yuri Bashmet. The concerto is followed by Takemitsu's Nostalghia (1987) for violin and string orchestra. Its compositional assurance, clarity, subtly nuanced orchestration, and emotional directness make it all the more striking in contrast to the Tan Dun. Here Bashmet is the impassioned soloist, with Roman Balashov conducting with great sensitivity. The three brief excerpts from Takemitsu's film scores are a pleasant stylistic diversion – light, strongly differentiated character pieces.

VA - Viola Space Japan, 10th Anniversary (2003) 2CDs

Posted By: Designol
VA - Viola Space Japan, 10th Anniversary (2003) 2CDs

Viola Space Japan, 10th Anniversary (2003) 2CDs
Toshio Hosokawa, Krzysztof Penderecki, György Kurtág, Per Nørgård, Quincy Porter
Oedoen Partos, György Ligeti, George Benjamin, Hikaru Hayashi, Alfred Schnittke
Nobuko Imai, viola; Toho Gakuen Orchestra; Koichiro Harada, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 571 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 318 Mb | Scans ~ 43 Mb
Classical, Contemporary | Label: BIS | # BIS-CD-1379/1380 | Time: 02:19:01

Viola Space in Tokyo is one of the world’s most important musical festivals dedicated to the viola and the music composed for it. Founded by Nobuko Imai – well-known to BIS followers as well as to lovers of the viola – it celebrates its 10th anniversary, and BIS was invited to document some of the 150 works that have been performed over the years. The program spans over more than 70 years, and the list of composer includes Schnittke, Per Nørgård, Penderecki and Oedoen Partos. Nobuko Imai herself performs two of the most exciting works on the two discs: György Ligeti’s Sonata for Viola Solo and Toshio Hosokawa’s Voyage VI for Viola and Strings. This last piece was composed only last year, and is dedicated Nobuko Imai. It forms part of a series of concertos “in which the soloist symbolizes man while the ensemble represents the universe, nature and world that surrounds us within and without”, in the composer’s own description. Among these a modern classic such as György Kurtág’s Hommage à R. Sch. – in which violist Junji Suganuma is joined by a clarinet and a piano – may be mentioned, as well as Viola, Viola, a constantly surprising duo by George Benjamin.