This second project released on Sub Rosa by the Japanese artist Kaoru Tashiro (after her interpretation of pieces by
Claude Ledoux and Toshi Ichiyanaghi) manages to create a subtle dialogue between four composers, and four musical pieces, mixing a delicate blend of Japanese and European sensibilities. Those different approaches convergence thanks to the highly recognisable sensibility of Kaoru Tashiro's way to play.
Kenji Sakai dilates space through a virtuoso piece,
Reflecting Space I - Bell, Cloud and Disincarnations,
based on the idea of the metamorphosis of classical
repertoires: it is Le Gibet from Gaspard de la nuit by
Maurice Ravel and Gyorgy Ligeti's thoughts on
"micropolyphony" writing. The bell which continues to ring
over time, turns into a cloud...
Claude Ledoux, already present on the first disc, is
wandering through mysterious, disquieting landscapes,
that gives pride of place to the hushed sounds coming
from the piano strings, hammered and muffled by the
imprint of the pianist's fingers.
Jean-Pierre Deleuze creates through this piano composition a dreamlike space that unfolds.
Julia Purgina, a young Austrian composer, whose piece
that was composed in full confinement, turned out to be
"dark", as she attempted to create an atmosphere of an
almost surreal expressivity between exaltation and
pessimism. This work has been premiered in Vienna
in 2021 and this is a first recording.
Kenji Sakai (born 1977 in Osaka) is a Japanese composer. He studied in Japan before moving to Europe, where he continued his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and at IRCAM. He rapidly developed his career on an international scale, with creations premiered by the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Kenji Sakai has been invited to many international festivals, and received numerous prizes, including the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in 2009, the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne Award in 2011 and the Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prix in 2012.
A pupil of
Henri Pousseur, Claude Ledoux
(born 1960 in Auvelais, Belgium) obtains a master in Music Sciences from
the Liège University. Nowadays, he works as a musical journalist and
lecturer as well as a Musical Analysis professor at the Conservatoire
National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (France). In Spring
2013 he is invited in China for lectures ad master classes at the Shanghai
Conservatory. The same year he founded the LAPS Ensemble—which
mixes Laptops and acoustic instruments.
Jean-Pierre Deleuze (born 1954 in Ath) is a Belgian composer. Initially influenced by the ultimate works of Alexander Scriabin, Initially influenced by the ultimate works of Alexander Scriabin, his musical language has evolved towards a contemplative imagination marked by spectral aesthetics, micro-tonality and references to Eastern musical traditions. He was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Belgique in 2007, and won the SABAM Awards for contemporary music in 2014.
Austrian composer and Violist Julia Purgina (born 1980 in Straubing, Germany) studied viola with Wolfgang Klos and composition with Erich Urbanner and Chaya Czernowin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Additionally she was a student of Ulrich Knörzer at the Berlin University of the Arts. Julia Purgina holds a double masters degree in viola and composition from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Additionally, she is interested in Philology and completed her studies in German and Slovak Languages at the Vienna University in 2021.
Julia Purgina has received numerous prizes and scholarships including the Theodor Körner Prize, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra Stipend, the Viktor Fohn Stipend, the Antonio Salieri Composition Prize, the Startstipendium 2009 and the Staatsstipendium for composers 2013 from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.
At the age of sixteen, Kaoru Tashiro (born in Tokyo) moved to Mexico City where she began performing solo recitals and making broadcasts while studying with Maria Teresa Rodriguez. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Mannes College of Music in New York where she studied under the tutelage of Leon Pommers. Later, she moved to Belgium where she studied with Yvegenia Braginsky, Mikhail Faerman and Eugene Moguilevsky at the Royal Brussels Conservatory. In 1998, she undertook an advanced study of Prokofievs piano music at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow with Olga Zukova. Since 1997, she has been performing a series of Russian piano music recitals and integral of Prokofievs music in Japan and in Europe. She is also active in music for the children and has been performing Peter and the wolf, L'Histoire de Babar, Ma mère l'Oye, Le Carnaval des Animaux, etc. In 2009, she has performanced Gauche, the violincellist, composed by Hikaru Hayashi, in various European cities.
