Essential listening for anyone interested in the koto or ext
Dennis Rea | Seattle, WA USA | 05/07/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Arguably the most accomplished koto player outside of Japan, Elizabeth Falconer and a select cast of well-attuned collaborators here pay loving homage to her former teacher, the late Sawai Tadao, who along with his predecessor Michio Miyagi was the artist most responsible for revitalizing the instrument and carrying its repertoire forward into the modern era. The two volumes available in this series, "Spell of Spring" and "Stirring Autumn," collect Sawai compositions performed as part of a four-concert tribute that took place in Seattle in 2007-08. As an alumnus of the venerable Sawai Koto School in Japan, Falconer enjoyed the privilege of working directly with the master and continues to collaborate regularly with his wife, the virtuoso koto performer and improviser Sawai Kazue; in keeping with this family tradition, Elizabeth's musical partners on these sessions include her husband John, whose probing shakuhachi beautifully complements the more percussive textures of the koto, and her teenaged son Brian, an impressive koto player in his own right. Selected tracks effectively incorporate other traditional Japanese instruments such as the three-stringed shamisen (expertly played by Marcia Takamura), in addition to voice (a haunting performance in Japanese by Jessika Kenney) and the Western violin (Tari Nelson-Zagar in a performance bordering on the telepathic). A prolific, forward-looking composer as well as an instrumental innovator, Sawai produced a large body of work ranging from weightless, tonally ambiguous ruminations to showcases of rapid-fire dexterity; these two CDs present a well-balanced and passionately performed survey of his varied compositional oeuvre. Sawai's pieces often display a more vigorous rhythmic dynamism than is typical of the traditional koto repertoire, as demonstrated on the propulsive track "Hotaru" (Fireflies) for solo bass koto, an instrument that gained much greater prominence thanks to Sawai's advocacy. His more adventurous works incorporate extended techniques of his own devising - striking the strings percussively with drumsticks, inserting objects between the strings to alter the timbre in fascinating ways, luminous harmonics - many of which are on striking display in these two collections. A truly inspired and deeply felt labor of love, this CD series stands as a major addition to the koto canon and is essential listening for anyone interested in the koto or in extraordinary string music of any kind."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1