Excellent recordings of "Samsara" and other works
Patrick A Daley | Fredericton, New Brunswick | 04/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Toshiro Mayuzumi's tone poem, "Samsara" (1962) is an old friend, actually. I have long had it on a Louisville LP, LS-666, conducted by Robert Whitney, which is very good. The work is structurally so strong that the 'Let's do this phrase, now let's do the next phrase' approach of the Louisville Orchestra works very well. Subsequently, I also acquired some recordings of the Mandala and Nirvana Symphonies, which are also unusual and interesting.The Marco Polo recording of "Bacchanale," "Phonologie symphonique," and "Samsara," with Yoshikazu Fukumura and the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra is of excellent quality, dynamic, clear and with a wide and deep image. I doubt if the performances could be bettered.This music is not to everyone's taste, I have to warn you. The big tone poem, "Samasara," is very well organized, but sounds rather dark and quite clangy. Like Rachmaninoff, Mayuzumi liked the sound of bells, but not the same kind of bells. Some people find it dark and depressing, though I think this is perhaps a Western prejudice. I think the darker, slower parts more or less depict Nirvana, while the higher, more percussive parts represent the vicissitudes of desire, which it is the aim of classical Buddhism to eradicate. There is at one point a sort of battle between the drums and the higher winds. I take it that the drums beat down of the winds, beatinng down unruly desires which lead only to dissatisfaction. This leads out of samsara, the cycle of births and deaths, into Nirvana. One need not be a Buddhist to understand that it depicts a liberation, but one needs to take time to listen to the whole piece. It's just not what we might expect.Anyway, I find it strangely relaxing. I listen to it several times a year, anyway."Bacchanale" (1952) is an experimental work written after his return from a sojourn in France. It is quite a dynamic piece, with some strong percussion, sometimes dark, and sometimes more lyrical. Whether this connotes a bacchanale, I don't know, but I suggest listening to the work on its own merits, appreciating its various sound structures."Phonologie symphonique" (1957) sounds rather like a study for "Samsara," as it uses many of the same sounds and techniques. Mayuzumi is said to be influenced by Edgar Varese and serialism. This is also a very interesting work, though I don't think it is as tightly organized as "Samsara." The CD is rather short, something over 43 minutes, and HNH could put another half hour or so of material on it. I debated whether to downgrade it for that, but decided that would be pointless. These are quite unique works, and I don't know of any other recording of them on CD.I can highly recommend this disc for those looking for something modern and different."
The "other" 20th Century Japanese composer: colorful but not
Discophage | France | 05/11/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I tend to view Mayuzumi as "the other" 20th Century Japanese composer: one who remained, in the West at least, in the shadow of Takemitsu, not as avant-garde, and not enjoying the same kind of exposure. The notion may be unfair, but it is borne out by a search on the present website: "Toshiro Mayuzumi" will yield 14 results in music (of which only five are entirely devoted to the composer, and two more are LPs). "Toru Takemitsu" yields 174.
Hearing this Hong-Kong/Marco Polo disc - one of the label's early releases from 1984, before it acquired its Naxos-based universal success - also confirms the impression. The music is colorful (although the colors are somewhat somber), dramatic, entertaining, but firmly rooted in tradition and not particularly original or ground-breaking. In fact in Bacchanale and Samsara it is the music of Charles Koechlin that came to mind (The Jungle Book) or the Roussel of the ballets or the (magnificent) Second Symphony, or again Ernest Bloch or Stravinsky's Sacre at times. Indeed I find Samsara very balletic, not only in its colors but also its apparently episodic construction. It even has a short passage evocative of Messiaen's birds (14:25). Some themes may be reminiscent of Varèse, but not their treatment. Bacchanale is more unruly and savage, with passages with a strong Jazz influence. There is not much stylistic evolution between the three compositions, although they span a period of nine years, from 1953 (Bacchanale) to 1962 (Samsara), Phonologie Symphonique coming in between (1957). The latter is possibly the most advanced of the three, somewhere in between Varèse and Schoenberg - but more easily accessible than both, I find. Samsara appears somewhat as a stylistic step back, something I remarked also when comparing it with the 1957 Pieces for Prepared Piano and Strings that are paired with the competing version, performed by the Louisville Orchestra under Robert Whitney (see my review of Toshiro Mayuzumi: Pieces for Prepared Piano and Strings / Samsara, Symphonic Poem / Essay for String Orchestra).
Interpretively, the merits are shared between the recordings of Whitney-Louisville and Fukumura Hong-Kong: the latter has marginally more snap in the fugato passage starting at 5:04 and more wild, unleashed energy in the passage for percussion alone at 16:31, but there are passages where Whitney has more menacing bite, and the old Louisville recording from 1966 has significantly more vivid presence, which does make a difference in impact. But Whitney also practices a circa 2-minute cut (corresponding to Fukumura's 9:00 to 11:10). On the other hand I find the Louisville program more interesting, presenting, with the Pieces for Prepared Piano and Strings and Essay for String Orchestra, a more comprehensive view of the various facets of Mayuzumi's compositional styles.
Also - and this I think is a major drawback - note that the TT on this Hong Kong/Marco Polo is a disappointingly short 43:06 (the same drawback limits the interest of the Louisville disc, which is even shorter at 39:48 minutes). When I see the prices demanded for those CDs, I can only hope no buyer will be gullible enough to give out their flesh and blood to the Internet vultures. As good as it may be (and I don't think Mayuzumi is all that indispensable), music isn't worth so much per minute. My three rather than four stars also express this reservation.
But it's your money."
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1