Takemitsu at his best
Erik Homenick | San Diego, California | 10/30/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Toru Takemitsu is certainly the best known Japanese composer--and the most universally popular from his country--but I've always had a little trouble with him. I'm not a sucker for avant-garde music in general, and Takemitsu often leaves me a little dumbstruck. Because he is a composer of mood and texture--not of melody--I think one has to be in just the right "mood" in order to make the connection with his floating, phantom-like sounds.
Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised and actually quite excited when I popped this disc in my player for the first time. Yes, this is avant-garde music a la Takemistu par excellence, but I found it immediately accessible and captivating.
There is something about his idiom that comes across very powerfully and clearly on the piano. These are dark-toned, introspective works that seem to whisper secret messages to you. With a just a little bit of concentration, a very mysterious, almost disturbing sound-world opens up and you are plunged into the deepest, darkest musings of a singularly talented composer.
For anyone that has ever tried to understand this revered, yet challenging composer, this is a great place to start. Besides, the pianist Kotaro Fukuma plays with acute sensitivity and almost seems to be possesed by the spirit of the composer; he doesn't play Takemitsu, he quotes him directly.
The sound engineer, Norbert Kraft, is one of the best in the business and makes the disc's audio sparkle and resonate.
Higly recommended."
