| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 2-Feb-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | Total Immersion: BBC Symphony Orchestra dedicates a day to the sounds of Japan |
.jpg) The final concert in this day-long exploration of Japanese music turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. It is likely that, with the exception of Toru Takemitsu, few average Western audiences would be familiar with the composers featured in this programme. This is of course a wonderful reason to exhibit their work – however, in programming a concert comprised of relatively unknown music (all of tonight’s six pieces were national or regional premières), combining the right amount of variety with familiarity becomes even more important than usual.
Read full review... | |
| 19-Dec-2012 St Giles Cathedral | Red Note Ensemble: Hymn of Thanks (Transcendence) |
 St Giles’ Cathedral, at the top of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, boasts a wonderful acoustic. From the chancel of this magnificent building a string quartet, drawn from the Red Note Ensemble’s flexible and varied forces, presented a late-evening, candlelit programme of meditative music entitled, Hymn of Thanks (Transcendence).Read full review... | |
| 1-Oct-2012 Wigmore Hall | Fleet fingers and sound showers: Noriko Ogawa at the Wigmore Hall |
 It was fitting that critically acclaimed Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa should open her Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert with a work by one of her countrymen: Rain Tree Sketch II by Toru Takemitsu. Not only does this piece of late 20th-century impressionism draw direct influences from the music of Debussy, which formed the bulk of the programme, it was performed on a day when many people came into the Wigmore shaking rain from umbrellas, hats and raincoats.
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| 7-Sep-2012 Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall | Debussy, Takemitsu and Copland from Sydney Symphony and Spano |
 Upon entering the concert hall of Sydney Opera House, I was greeted by a plethora of percussion instruments positioned in all corners of the stage, along with multi-coloured ribbons, which were hanging down from the ceiling. They were in place for a performance of Toru Takemitsu’s From me flows what you call Time, for five percussionists and orchestra. However, before that, we were treated to Debussy’s much-loved Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.Read full review... | |
