Notes and Editorial Reviews
NISHIMURA
Clarinet Concerto,
“Kavira.”
1
Serpent in the Sky.
2
Vision and Mantra
•
Norichika Iimori, cond; Karl Leister (cl);
1
Michiko Akao (yokobue);
2
Württemberg PO
•
CAMERATA 28147 (70:30)
For those following the story so far, this is
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the third installment of Camerata’s series of Akira Nishimura’s orchestra works to come my way (see
Fanfare
24:1 and 31:6). All three have been impressive, and show Nishimura (b. 1953) to be a consistent stylist with a persuasive, often powerful manner, especially in his ability to obtain colorful and expressive orchestral effects. His familiarity with traditional Japanese music and folk instruments accounts for some of the striking timbres and surprising events that energize his music, enhanced by an imaginative perspective that draws upon characteristically Asian musical symbolism.
For example,
Serpent in the Sky
(1994/2000) will sound least familiar to Western ears, as it reflects metaphorical feelings attached to specific pitches and modes and was directly influenced by Kabuki, Noh, and Gagaku conventions. In addition to the microtones, bent notes, metallic percussion, and thudding drum punctuation, there is a prominent role for four different sizes of yokobue, a bamboo flute used for sacred and theater music, which correspond here to varying emotions—the smallest flute is the most spirited, the largest the most meditative, and the last, the ryuteki, has a melancholy tinge. Similarly, the three-movement
Vision and Mantra
(2007) has a subtext illuminating concepts from the
Tibetan Book of the Dead
, with the extravagant orchestral gestures, from tumultuous to mysterious and ethereal, enacting stages in the soul’s progress from death to rebirth. It’s not all spiritual sweetness and light, however—there’s a bit of John Williams bombast within the exoticism.
Nishimura has an engaging, if unconventional, approach to the classical concerto too; his two violin concertos are my favorites of his work. The 26-minute Clarinet Concerto (2005) is in five connected movements, and the soloist doesn’t appear until the second. Symbolically, the clarinet is identified with the “kavira” (also known as the “kalavinka”), a mythical bird of paradise, and its voice—alternately soaring, circling, or fluttering in place—is the most lyrical component of the music. Tension arises from the orchestra’s frequent confrontations with the soloist, employing menacing textures, glittering percussion, and static or scurrying strings to interrupt the clarinet’s pastoral song.
Both the Clarinet Concerto and
Vision and Mantra
were commissioned by the Württembergers—these are, in fact, their world premiere performances—and the orchestra responds to the composer’s fantastical style with aplomb.
FANFARE: Art Lange
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Clarinet "Kavira" by Akira Nishimura
Performer:
Karl Leister (Clarinet)
Conductor:
Norichika Iimori
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Württemberg Philharmonie Reutlingen
Written: 2005; Japan
Length: 25 Minutes 32 Secs.
2.
Serpent in the Sky for Yokobue and Orchestra by Akira Nishimura
Performer:
Michiko Akao (Shinobue)
Conductor:
Norichika Iimori
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Württemberg Philharmonie Reutlingen
Period: 20th Century
Written: Japan
Length: 16 Minutes 4 Secs.
Notes: Composition written: Japan (1994).
Composition revised: Japan (2004).
3.
Vision and Mantra by Akira Nishimura
Conductor:
Norichika Iimori
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Württemberg Philharmonie Reutlingen
Written: 2007; Japan
Length: 26 Minutes 44 Secs.
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