The son of a famous
writer and the brother of a famous actor,
Yasushi Akutagawa was a leading figure
in Japanese arts and letters throughout
his long and successful career. He was
active not only in the professional
realm, but was also a strong advocate
for amateur music-making, conducting
both amateur choirs and orchestras while
refusing a fee. His music spans a number
of styles, including a brief experimentation
with the avant-garde. He abandoned this
path though when he came to the conclusion
that such music would be inaccessible
to many listeners, a situation that
ran contrary to his populist outlook
on the arts.
The Rapsodia per
orchestra from 1971 is a somewhat
programmatic work. The composer imagines
himself as a sorcerer, waving his wand
over the page and bringing sounds to
life. A heavily orchestrated work, it
draws on a wide complement of winds
and percussion to give it its distinctive
palette. Formally, the music owes much
to Stravinsky, with memorable themes
that recur throughout, interspersed
with bursts of energy and variation
of timbre. The New Zealand Symphony
Orchestra presents a tight, no-nonsense
type of performance, with clear balance
between sections. Takua Yuasa is skilful
at handling so large and dense a score,
always avoiding washes of sound in favor
of clarity of line and demarcation of
melody.
Named after a town
in India that is home to a famous temple,
the Ellora Symphony is less conservative
than the older Rapsodia. There is considerably
more variation in dynamic levels, and
the lyricism of the later work is missing.
There are dark bursts of thick chromatic
harmonies, and formally there is less
thematic glue to hold the piece together.
Instead, we are treated to a vast canvas
in which colors and shapes either fade
in and out of view or are abruptly changed
before the eye. Made up of sixteen short
sections, there is infinite variety
in the orchestration and plenty to keep
the interest of the listener. The New
Zealanders turn in a memorable performance,
full of vigor and interest with some
striking and fascinating shifts of mood.
Trinita Sinfonica
is an early work, one which brought
the composer his first success. The
influence of Shostakovich is evident
from the first bar, with martial rhythmic
gestures accentuated by almost military
punctuation in the percussion. There
is little subtlety in the shifts in
dynamics with rapid jarring leaps between
pianissimo and fortissimo. Another fine
performance from the New Zealanders
makes this the most memorable and dare
I say listenable work on the disc, and
it should be for this piece that a purchase
be made.
Excellent but somewhat
overlong program notes provide ample
information about the composer and his
times. An interesting figure, sadly
neglected in western countries, this
disc is a welcome introduction to a
composer certainly worthy of hearing.
Thanks be to Naxos for continuing to
plumb the mines of interesting and unusual
music, and presenting it at their ever-attractive
price.
Highly recommended.
Kevin Sutton
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Takua Yuasa 
