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What's new?
Recording in Orebro LigAlien IV, the last piece of my LigAlien series, is almost finished. As usual, I will make minor revisions in the next few months. But the piece found its way from the beginning to the end; when I start to write a new piece I find it difficult to tell where it wants to go. This difficult question has been answered, as far as LigAlien IV is concerned. What else in 2007? In May I was in the charming little town Orebro in Sweden because my flute concerto was being recorded for BIS. We had all in all four days for rehearsal and recording - not exactly plenty of time, but due to the fantastic quality of the musicians, everything went very smoothly. It was fantastic. The string orchestra-which consisted of members of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra Orebro- was one of these amazing Scandinavian orchestras. Incredibly professional, very enthusiastic and gifted with high musical intelligence, they had a keen sense of rhythm and swing as well as a very beautiful tone. Sharon Bezaly, the soloist, is one of the best flute players in the world. I feel very honored to write for her and work with her together. And the conductor, Anne Manson was on a par with Sharon. She understood my flute concerto so well that I hardly needed to explain anything. It goes without saying that she, as an American, does indeed know how to swing and how to convey her feel for rhythm to the orchestra. On the last night of our recording sessions Sharon Bezaly invited Anne and I to dinner. As usually at such occasions: Everybody is tired, but there is less tension too, and then there are lots of interesting topics to talk about. For example, Sharon and Anne both have children, and for them, balancing their career and family is sometimes a very difficult task. I don't have any children to care for, although sometimes housework gets on me... can't help admiring them. Of course, we talked about politics and the environment, too. As it is inevitable to do so today. After parting with Anne and Sharon, I went to a pub that had a television; Italy was playing against England in the UEFA Champion League Final. (It is customary for Japanese women to support the team with the best-looking players.) In the pub, about all Italian and English guys in Orebro at that time were there, and we watched the game standing with a beer in our hands (I wonder what they thought about that little Japanese woman among them)... For me, the time I spent in Sweden was quite relaxing. The chief sound engineer might have had a different impression. He had looked tired. Because of the lack of recording time, the general manager of the orchestra got nervous about whether the recording could be finished, and on the last day he stayed with the engineer all day, even during the breaks. They didn't panic, however. One has to admit that men are better at staying composed in difficult situation than women. So, you see, meanwhile I was still watching the soccer game. After the Italian team won, the English guys pulled a face and left the bar, while the Italian guys stayed and continued to drink, relaxed like male lions waiting for the return of the female lions that would bring them the chase of the day. No part of this homepage may be used for commercial purposes without permission of the composer. ©2006 Mari Takano |
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