MUSIC TODAY 21: Part II

As mentioned in the previous post, MUSIC TODAY 21 is a contemporary music festival here in Tokyo. The second concert I was able to attend featured works by György Ligeti, Anton Webern, and Korean composers Unsuk Chin (whom I had the pleasure of meeting during the intermission) and Sukhi Kang. The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra vividly brought these works to life under the baton of Kazuyoshi Akiyama.
Ligeti – San Francisco Polyphony for Orchestra: I love most of his work, and this piece was no exception. The opening sounds evoked images of fog and mist that surround San Francisco Bay in the early morning. Then, colorful tone clusters delighted the ears (at least mine at any rate).
Webern – Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 10: One of the masterpieces of the Second Viennese School. Very tricky to give a good performance of these atonal miniatures, but the orchestra pulled it off.

Chin - Rocaná: Wow! Sanskrit for “Room of Light”, this piece really bowled me over. The orchestra played blocks of sound over the fascinating rhythms being pumped out a very noisy (and large) percussion section. Reminded me a little of Ligeti’s “Atmospheres”, which makes sense since she studied under him in Hamburg.
Kang – Catena pour grand orchestre: Another of Chin’s teachers, but I’m afraid the pupil may have surpassed him. Catena (Latin for chain) was a little similar to the Ligeti, and Chin’s Rocaná, but less interesting. Sounded like something composed during the mid-seventies (which it was).

Chin – Su, concerto for Chinese sheng and orchestra: Composed in 2009, and commissioned by Suntory Hall, this piece was a little disappointing. Knowing nothing about it, I was curious to hear (and see) the sheng, but the writing didn’t show us much. It sounded like a reedy harmonica. The soloist, Wei Wu, gave it his all and seemed breathless by the end of it, but I still have no idea what the sheng really sounds like.
All in all, a great concert. Chin is a composer I’d like to explore further. Her opera, Alice in Wonderland, is out on DVD. From the clips I’ve seen on Youtube, it looks and sounds pretty interesting. Perhaps I’ll pick up a copy…

MUSIC TODAY 21: Part I

MUSIC TODAY 21 is a festival of contemporary music that happens every summer here in Tokyo. Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the Japanese premiere of Thomas Ades’ Violin Concerto “Concentric Circles”. Thrilling. Another work on that program, Tansy Davies’s Tilting, was also intriguing.
So it was with some excitement that I attended two concerts at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall last week. The first, conducted by Ryusuke Numajiri, featured pieces by Italian Salvatore Sciarrino, American Augusta Read Thomas, Briton Luke Bedford, and Hungarian Peter Eötvös.
Sciarrino – 4 Adagi per flauto dolce e orchestra: A kind of concerto for recorder. A very quiet piece. The many silent spaces gave it an eerie feeling at times. A little bit like movie music, but in a good way. The soloist (Toshiya Suzuki) gave a passionate performance.

Thomas – Violin Concerto “Juggler in Paradise”: The best piece on the program. Soloist Eiichi Chijiiwa seemed a little uncomfortable in the more romantic passages, but was rhythmically precise as he juggled a melody over the orchestra’s more fragmented accompaniment. I’d love to hear another performance that had been given more rehearsal time.
Bedford – Wreathe for orchestra: The repeated theme (I counted at least seven) passed around by various solo players was great, but didn’t develop all that much. That being said, the orchestration was exciting. (However, the poor contrabass clarinetist didn’t have much fun fighting with his instrument in the quiet passages. Must have been a rental.)  Would love to here more from this young composer.
Eötvös – Konzert für zwei Klaviere und Orchester: Great performance by the two pianists, but I’m still not sure why two were needed (same goes for the two tubas). The music was very energetic and lively, but felt lacking in organization and purpose. Noisy and virtuosic, but ultimately pointless. But I may be wrong.
I’ll discuss the second concert in a future post.