National interests are pursued indefatigably in London,
and as rallying grounds for musical expatriates, but may need to be
sought out in less important venues; it can be risky putting on chamber
music recitals of rare music in remoter parts of the metropolis. On
successive evenings I attended distinctive Spanish and Japanese concerts.
At the Royal Academy of Music, in association with
the Instituto
Cervantes at Eaton Square, a fair number came to hear ANAKI
(Ananda Sukarlan & Inaki Alberdi) explore contemporary
possibilities for their combination of piano & accordion. Newly
founded, they have begun by developing a repertoire of Iberian music,
but intend to promote themselves with composers all over the world,
and they invite contact from
young composers interested to work closely with them, very necessary
because the button accordion is so different from usual western recital
instruments.
Monodias Espanolas had Spanish folk tunes elaborated
on the piano with Indonesian influence, in the Montreal-domiciled Jose
Evangelista's characteristic monodic manner. The splendid Pigini concert
accordion is so penetrating that they would have been better advised
to have had the piano lid fully open. Soinua by Gabriel Erkoreka
made pleasant sounds but seemed to lose its way; only one of Luis de
Pablo's three new pieces was given, so a response will have to be deferred
until receipt of the recording of a full performance, to be made in
August. Accentus by Jesus Torres, utilising medieval hocketing
techniques, and a Diario by David del Puerto (variations composed
one each day) were the most successful, the latter demonstrating the
best interaction between the instruments with energy and a sense of
direction. Overall, the accordion/piano combination has far more potential
than was revealed in this programme.
Blackheath Halls next evening offered discreet coloured
illumination with informal table arrangements in the Recital Room, to
provide atmosphere for ENSEMBLE TOZAI, and candles made
it just possible still to read our programmes, in which translations
and (unusually) transliterations of the original Japanese were given,
to the ensemble's credit.
Joji
Hirota (percussion doubling voice), Renzan Kudoh (shakuhachi)
and Reiko Fujisawa (piano) had enjoyed good attendances at South Bank
Centre during the Japan 2001 Festival, but only a tiny audience came
to Blackheath. They are all good musicians and reported successful touring,
but their East meets West theme was only variably successful, with idioms
veering wildly! Joji Hirota is a superlative taiko drummer and
his free improvisation on a mellow-toned drums and gongs percussion
set, in duet with the admirable flute playing of Renzan Kudoh
on several different shakuhachis, was the most successful item
for this listener. Hirota's Rhapsodic Dawn was too episodic,
with passages for Reiko Fujisawa redolent of hotel restaurant tea-time
piano playing. Hirota's plangent traditional Japanese folk-style singing
was affecting (he tried to get us to join in one of the choruses) but
traditional tunes were undermined by piano accompaniments that smacked
of early 20 C. English folk song settings, a style now hopelessly dated.
Some of those folk songs can also be heard on RealWorld
CDRW82 with string quintet! Rain Forest Dream Saydisc
SDL 384 confirms Hirota's multi-instrumental skills, but
also that he aims for 'World Music' easy listening.
That Reiko Fujisawa is a good pianist was clear
in two early Britten pieces, Moderato & Nocturne, and three
of Toshi Ichiyanagi's Cloud Atlas - an unknown composer in UK,
they were far more interesting than the derivative Rain Tree Sketch
II representing the ubiquitous and obligatory Takemitsu; once again
I was persuaded that Takemitsu is over-rated and over-exposed in UK.
Despite remonstrations, there were half a dozen microphones to amplify
the music for a dozen listeners, with the inevitable background hum
which compromises silent background! Never can Takemitsu's fragilities
have suffered thus - the pianist found it as peculiar as we did.
The hybrid event had been treated as 'a gig' rather
than a concert. Despite my reservations, the atmosphere was good, helped
by informal introductions from the stage, and all in all it made for
an unusual but enjoyable evening. ENSEMBLE TOZAI has
a CD on the way - it will be interesting to hear what sort of programme
they put together.
Peter Grahame Woolf
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