In her new album acclaimed pianist Tomono Kawamura invites listeners on a satisfying journey through classical piano music. Blending personal favourites with timeless masterpieces, Tomono's profound connection to the piano is evident in every piece. Her distinct poetic sensitivity and technical brilliance bring each composition to life, creating a deeply personal and immersive musical experience. The album opens with Tchaikovsky's Autumn Song, Op. 37a No. 10, from The Seasons. Tomono captures the reflective and nostalgic mood of October, emphasising the delicate interplay of light and shadow in this evocative work. The journey continues with Sibelius's "Edit," Op. 76 No. 2, where Tomono masterfully balances subdued elegance with quiet intensity, reflecting the stark beauty of the Finnish landscapes that inspired it. Brahms' Hungarian Dance adds a lively burst of energy, with Tomono navigating it's spirited rhythms and fiery folk influences with joyful intensity. Her deep affinity for Chopin shines through in her performances of six of his works, each chosen to highlight different facets of his genius. From the lyrical intimacy of his nocturnes to the virtuosic brilliance of his etudes, Tomono's interpretations resonate with the emotional depth central to Chopin's music. The album also explores diverse stylistic periods with selections from Scarlatti, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Grieg. Tomono's performances reflect a profound understanding of these great piano works, whether it's the crystalline precision of Scarlatti's sonatas, the sweeping passion of Rachmaninoff's preludes, the dreamlike textures of Debussy, or the rugged beauty of Grieg. A highlight of Reminiscence is Tomono's original composition, Variations, which bridges classical form with contemporary expression. This piece showcases her creativity and deep understanding of the classical tradition, offering a fresh voice while paying homage to the composers who have shaped her musical journey. Reminiscence is more than just a collection of piano works; it reflects Tomono Kawamura's lifelong devotion to music. Through her thoughtful interpretations and masterful technique, she offers listeners an experience that lingers long after the final notes fade. About Tomono Kawamura: Born in Japan, Tomono Kawamura began piano studies at three and made her orchestral debut at fifteen. After winning numerous competitions in Japan, she received a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with First Class Honours. Tomono has performed as a soloist across Asia, Europe, and the UK, including at Wigmore Hall. She is also a celebrated performer on luxury cruise ships worldwide. Tomono's rich career and dedication to her craft are evident in every note of Reminiscence, offering listeners a glimpse into the soul of a true artist.
Nature, the cosmos and humanity are the inspirations for Joji Hirota's latest solo album, Prayer's Tale. Single-handedly playing 40 different Japanese and Asian instruments, combined with vocals, he weaves sounds of nature, emotions and colors of the universe into a beautiful soundscape. With Joji's circular instrument set up (various taiko drums, 13 different sizes of kin [prayer bells], six sizes of gongs, various bells and wind chimes) he can stand in the center and respond intuitively. "Everybody has their own personal circumstances... their own sense of 'universe'. Here, I try to express my own personal sense of Earth's history, human history, and my own outlook on the future through musical scenes, emotions, colors and nuances of sound." (Joji Hirota)
Ludwig van Beethoven stands as a giant in music history for his great symphonies, piano sonatas and string quartets, and the challenges of deafness later in life. This programme shows the younger Beethoven's facility as a creator of light and entertaining chamber works as enjoyable to perform as they are to hear. Taking their cues from Mozart, the 'Duos' build on sonata form and dance movements, the slightly later 'Serenade' taking the shape of a genial 18th-century divertimento. Flutist Kazunori Seo was born in Japan in 1974. He began studying music at age 6 with his parents before going on to study in Paris. He was the recipient of the Premier Prix in flute in 1998 and the Premier Prix in chamber music in 1999. His previous recordings for Naxos include the flute music of Leopold Hofmann, Karl and Franz Doppler, Ignaz Moscheles, and Carl Czemy.
This album comprises eight compositions for diverse media spanning more than forty years. Most of these pieces were composed for the musicians who performed them. Several pieces reflect my experiences in Japan over sixty years, although only one composition uses an actual Japanese instrument. David Loeb
This is Edward Gardner's sixth release on LPO Label, and the third that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the label in 2025. This Britten program was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall (Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas) and Saffron Hall (Winter Words). A bold, early masterpiece written at just twenty-six and originally commissioned to commemorate Japan's 2600th imperial anniversary, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was rejected for being too solemn, but emerged as his only major purely orchestral work and a powerful response to the growing threat of war. Winter Words Britten's poignant song cycle originally for tenor and piano, set to texts of 8 poems by Thomas Hardy is presented here in a new orchestration by Robin Holloway-a world premiere recording. The Prince of the Pagodas, Britten's ballet with Edward Gardner's distilled concert suite from The Prince of the Pagodas-another world premiere recording-fulfils Britten's unrealised ambition to arrange his full-length ballet into a dramatic orchestral suite.
Takemitsu: Quatrain; A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden Avantgarde Series Limited Edition / Boston Symphony Orchestra/Seiji Ozawa - Toru Takemitsu's Quatrain (1975) and A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden (1977) exemplify his synthesis of Western avant-garde techniques and Japanese aesthetics. In Quatrain, scored for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and orchestra, Takemitsu evokes the Japanese concept of ma (the space between things) through fluid shifts of timbre and atmosphere. He likened the work to an emaki, a picture scroll unfolding scene by scene, where each musical idea is independent yet interwoven. Both pieces merge modernist innovation with deeply rooted Japanese sensibility. By embracing his cultural heritage within the structures of Western art music, Takemitsu reshaped the avant-garde, bridging modernism and postmodernism, and offering works that still sound strikingly fresh and timeless today. Avantgarde Series features original artwork and a newly designed, beautifully crafted collector's sleeve with new liner notes by Bradford Bailey. Limited, numbered and pressed on 180grAm vinyl.
This album comprises compositions for various Asian instruments from Japan to India, some combined with Western instruments. Traditional performance techniques figure more prominently in some pieces than in others. Most of these recordings were previously released, but are long out-of-print. They have benefitted from recent advances in editing technology.
Libera, a boys choral group based in south London making beautiful, progressive albums in the classical and the ambient/new age style, have recorded "Beyond", their eagerly-anticipated new album - a transformative and spiritual musical experience. This comes hot on the heels of their successful 2017 "Hope" album. Even with 50 million hits on You Tube, performances for Popes and Presidents, Classical Brit nominations, and their most recent USA and Japan tours a triumph with the critics and at the box office, Libera remain one of the UK's best-kept secrets. "Beyond" includes "Sanctus" with it's extraordinary vocal range and heavenly serenity, the breathtakingly beautiful melodic elegance of "Salve Regina", the exciting and uplifting "Benedictus Deus" and, as an antidote to the angst and pressures of modern life, "Voca me" - and the exquisite voices and harmonies of Libera. "Beyond" is an inspirational journey to the depths of your own consciousness, away from the noise and bustle to find a quiet place to relax and rejuvenate the spirit. The distinctive sound of Libera has travelled the world in the last few years. The group's albums have topped both mainstream and classical charts in many countries, and their recordings hold their place in top 10s alongside major artists. Libera's unique sound has endeared the group to fans all over the world, particularly in the USA, the UK, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, where their CDs top the mainstream and classical charts and where they pack concert halls appearing in their trademark flowing white robes on imaginatively lit stages. The boys who make up the vocal band Libera normal South London kids aged 7 to 16. However, as their recordings and performances demonstrate, the music they produce is truly extraordinary. With shimmering, mystical chords and ecstatic harmonies, they are unlike any other group you have ever heard.
Japan’s leading jazz magazine Swing Journal hailed Dave Ballou on his SteepleChase debut CD (SCCD 31436 Amongst Ourselves) by saying “…here comes a new artist with solid beautiful sound and tremendous imagination and technique who can tell his own story…” But it also said, “…if you are not used to this type (free) of music, you may find it hard to follow…” - not on this his third release under his own name. Dave Ballou chose a quartet format with piano (George Colligan) and, besides his own compositions, some of the popular titles from the jazz repertoire letting us know that he belongs to a tradition.
Puccini’s Japanese tragedy Madama Butterfly is given a ravishing production by The Royal Opera. Its alluring imagery of Japan from the 19th-century European Imagination heightens the intense clash of East and West. When the American naval officer Pinkerton seduces the young ‘Butterfly’ Cio-Cio-San, he seems to promise every happiness – but his cruel abandonment leads to her tragic self-sacrifice. Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera and renowned for his interpretations of Puccini, conducts an exceptionally fine cast with the Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Powerful performances show why Madama Butterfly remains one of the all-time operatic favourites. ‘‘Always at his best in Puccini, Antonio Pappano conducts with passionate sincerity.’’ (The Guardian 5 Stars) ‘‘An opera that ranks among the very greatest of the 20th century.’’ (The Daily Telegraph 4 Stars) ‘‘Ermonela Jaho is the best Cio-Cio-San London has seen in years’’ (Independent 4 Stars) -----
REVIEWS:
The Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho is one of the great singing actresses of our time. Hers is not a sumptuous soprano, but the colors she brings to her portrayal are astonishing. Her Flower Duet with Elizabeth DeShong's feisty, sympathetic Suzuki is quite beautifully sung. Pappano - arguably today's greatest Puccianian conductor - draws ardent playing from the orchestra, superbly detailed in its commentaries.
– Gramophone
Pappano is particularly alert to Puccini borrowing traditional Japanese melodies; at times he makes you hear this score, as well as the drama on stage, as a tug of war between East and West. It’s Sharpless and Suzuki who steal the show – a consul with a tender conscience from Scott Hendricks and Elizabeth DeShong as a maid who could melt the stoniest of hearts.
• French composer Erik Satie composed some of the most mystifyingly beautiful music in the piano literature, much of which is in constant demand for live performance and recordings.
• Pianist Chisako Okano studied piano in her native Japan and then Germany, and leads a productive concertizing career.
This Bella Musica release of two historical recordings captured nearly a quarter-century apart features the conductor Carl August Bünte (b. 1925), a pupil of Sergiu Celibidache who for 24 years led the Berlin Symphony, the Kansai Philharmonic, one of the two major orchestras resident in Osaka, Japan, pianist Hiroko Miyamoto and the aforementioned Berlin Symphony in performances of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in c, op. 18 and Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in d, op. 120. + Ms. Miyamoto is currently a professor at the Osaka University of Education.
Carlo Domeniconi’s distinguished career as an internationally renowned guitarist has been paralleled by his prolific output as a composer whose music repeatedly seeks a synthesis between the disparate cultures of East and West. This programme takes us from the evocative Anatolian mystique of ‘Koyunbaba,’ Domeniconi’s best loved work for guitar, through vivid impressions of ‘Snow in Istanbul,’ the Arabian-influenced ‘Taqsim,’ and a charming visit to Japan through ‘Minyo.’ Award-winning soloist Celil Refik Kaya concludes with the ‘Don-Quijote-Suite,’ Domeniconi’s heart-stoppingly expressive distillation of Spain’s most famous narrative.
Founded in 2013 by composer Chad Cannon, AANMI is a consortium of some of the finest young Asian and American composers and performing artists who have joined forces to unite an often fragmentary international music scene by reaching beyond geographic, musical, and cultural boundaries with their new music. This exciting Delos release, the first from AANMI, features Asian members and composers Sayo Kosugi (Japan), Xiaogang Ye (China), Sun-Young Park (Korea) and Narong Prangcharoen (Thailand) as well as participating American members: composers Matthew Aucoin and Chad Cannon, and conductor Yuga Cohler. Solo artists featured in this choice selection of new music are Japanese violinist Ryo Goto and American bass-baritone Davone Tines, performing with the accomplished musicians of the AANMI Los Angeles Ensemble under Yuga Cohler's deft direction.
Alexandre Tharaud's relationship with film music runs deep - it also ranges wide. On his double album CINEMA, the French pianist delves into 50 celebrated film scores by composers from France, Italy, the USA, Japan, Poland, Romania and Lebanon - 19 in all. Among them are Michel Legrand, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch, Nino Rota and Philip Glass. As Tharaud says: "This album pays tribute to them with a selection of pieces for piano and orchestra and for piano solo, most in their original versions, creating a sound-world every bit as thrilling without the motion picture." The movie magic is reinforced by Tharaud's starry partners on the album: Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and making guest appearances are singers Vanessa Paradis, Camelia Jordana and Sabine Devieilhe, clarinettist Michel Portal and vioinist Nemanja Radulovic.
Sinfonie concertanti per 2 flauti e orchestra / Utagawa, Hunziker, Kuentz, Paul Kuentz Chamber Orchestra
Tudor
CD
$19.99Jan 18, 2019
This recording focuses on concertante works for two flutes and orchestra by Italian contemporaries of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There is documentary evidence for Mozart and Cambini having met in Paris. Common to all three works are high-spirited introductory Allegros and brilliantly scored, virtuosic Rondos. The wonderful Largo in Cimarosa’s Concerto is particularly attractive: a true 'Dance of the blessed spirits for two flutes'. Flutists Domique Hunziker and Anne Utagawa have been working together for many years. They founded the group ‘les joueurs de flute’ in 1985. The ensemble features a line-up of eight outstanding performers from Switzerland, Germany, and Japan. For this release, Hunziker and Utagawa are joined by the Orchestre de Chambre Paul Kuentz.
For our first all-new 24K Gold CD releases in eight years, we worked with jazz icon Patricia Barber and Premonition Records to bring you three classics from her catalog: CAFE BLUE, COMPANION, and NIGHTCLUB. Each has been newly remastered from the original analog tapes (CAFE BLUE by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, COMPANION and NIGHTCLUB by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering). They feature our deluxe book-style packaging with booklets that pay homage to the original CDs while updating them to Impex Records' look and feel. The Limited Edition Impex 24K Gold CD Patricia Barber Series are manufactured at Memory-Tech's state-of-the-art facility in Japan.
Two CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD. 85-minutes of live material that personifies the art of the effortless, elegant and economical, Bill Bruford. The second in a two-volume anthology of concert footage of Bill Bruford's Earthworks covering the1990s. Filmed on tour in Germany (1991), Japan (1991), and Bulgaria (1999). Chronicling the band's progress from it's electronic start to it's acoustic renaissance. Featuring Django Bates, the Ivor Novello Award-winning keyboardist and tenor horn player Eb. This 3-disc second volume of the anthology has been out of print for some time. It is re-issued here on Bruford's own Summerfold Records and was produced and overseen personally by him.
![Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Pappano, Jaho, Puente, Royal Opera House [Blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3576296.jpg?v=1791144593&width=800)
![Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Pappano, Jaho, Puente, Royal Opera House [Blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/51rvcV-ZfkL.jpg?v=1791144593&width=800)
![Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Pappano, Jaho, Puente, Royal Opera House [Blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3576296.jpg?v=1791144593&width=400)
