| | Izutsu CD Ayuo Discography of CDs
This work is a type of opera based on the great Noh play Izutsu, written by Zeami in the late 14th century. Ayuo has employed the use of hurdy-gurdy, Celtic harp, something he calls "sitar-guitar," Dharma-vina, and traditional gagaku instruments that come from the royal court music of Japan and Korea. But it is the vocals of Makiko Sakurai that pull these disparate elements into a whole so haunting and beautiful that it feels otherworldly at times. Sakurai hovers and swoops, weeps and cries, and philosophically intones over the proceedings. It doesn't matter that it's in Japanese (there are some translations); the emotions inherent in these pieces are shot through with sincerity and empathy. Each utterance is a vibration against eternal silence while acknowledging its eternal presence. There are places of musical and vocal interplay, such as on the opening chant, which lasts a bit over 12 minutes, or the shimmering, sadly beautiful "Izutsu 4," where double-tracked vocals and a Celtic harp pine to each other in sorrow. It feels more like a prayer than an aria with accompanying chorus, and perhaps it is. Ayuo has written a masterpiece of modern music that, while rooted in a Japan he admits he has never seen but only imagined, is its own country, a territory that unites the mind and the heart in sound, thought, and word. It is absolutely stunning; a classic of new music. (A note to store owners and record buyers: never mind where to classify it, just play it in store and it will sell itself.) ~ Thom Jurek
Live Recording
Izutsu Songs | 1. | Taiyo |
| 2. | Ama No Umi |
| 3. | Lament |
| 4. | Izutsu 1-12 |
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Izutsu Review
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Purchase Izutsu CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Theo Bleckmann Mori: Moonsongs / Mori, Bleckman, Coleman, Kang, Et Al CD (2000)
Izutsu album
 $12.75 
Ikue Mori's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tzadik, 2000) is a wonderful and multi-faceted modern chamber suite similar in nature to her film music, as opposed to, say, her work in Death Ambient. The work is named for Mori's inspiration in composing this music, a woodblock print series by Yoshitoshi, the last master of Japanese Ukiyoe. The pieces ranges from a section reminiscent ...
| | Death Ambient Synaesthesia CD (1999)
Izutsu CD music
$12.75
When you consider the players that make up Death Ambient, it is not surprising that they manage to put out such interesting music. Guitar innovator Fred Frith, the amazing bassist Kato Hideki, and legendary percussionist Ikue Mori combine efforts to issue a sound that is often called ambient noise, but has more texture and complexity than almost any other music under that label. As talented as Frith and Hideki are, Mori is the true creative core of this band's sound, emitting a myriad of sounds from her drum machines -- delicate bells, chimes, and rattles as well ...
| | Davka Lavy's Dream CD (1996)
Izutsu music CDs
$13.99
In 1996, violinist Daniel Hoffman, cellist Moses Sedler, and doumbeck and zarb player Adam Levenson (with special guest Norbert Stachel playing flute on one track) released the album Lavy's Dream on an obscure San Francisco label. Few people heard it, even fewer bought it, and it disappeared into the realm of the obscure. Enter John Zorn, one of the few to be sure in more ways than one. In the spring of 2000, the band reassembles, cut five more tracks, and then issues the whole bunch on this CD. No wonder Zorn was so keen to reissue in his Radical Jewish Culture series. There is simply nothing like it. Davka is aa chamber ensemble who uses Jewish folk melodies, classical music both Eastern and Western, jazz improvisation, and elements of klezmer to produce a music that is somber and moody yet full of spark and wonder. Their musical sophistication combines mixed harmonic and interval strategies on a plane where scales from Indian classical music intersect with those of gypsy klezmer and are governed by jazz's modal constructs and triggered improvisation. The mystical "The Dream of Rabbi Lavy" is a fine example of the old-world folk melodies encountering rhythmic invention as a violin chants repetitively a broken phrase echoed harmonically by the cello. In the "Yizkor ...
| | Teodoro Anzellotti Vivi Felice! Accordion Music By Domenico Scarlatti CD (2001)
Izutsu songs
$15.79
Teodoro Anzellotti,Accordion
| | Ayuo: Aoi CD (2005)
Izutsu album
$13.39
Following the exquisite Red Moon collaboration with Ohta Hiromi, Ayuo returns to another medieval Noh play as a source, Aoi No Ue, also written by Zeami in the 14th century. However, unlike Izutsu, pieces not based on the Noh source material also appear on Aoi. "Aoi No Ue" is certainly the centerpiece of the album, lasting more than 20 minutes. It's a good deal more sparse than anything on Red Moon, with Ayuo's electric guitar ranging from ominously distorted to chiming and pretty and interacting with shakuhachi, biwa, and vocals. "A Stranger" and "Oh Light of My Heart" are both multi-tracked instrumentals that closely resemble the lush settings on Red Moon, with sitar-guitar and bouzouki prominent ...
| | Renaissance - Song Of Scherherezade DVD (2008)
Izutsu CD music
 $14.75  
| | L V Beethoven Life, Times & Music Series: Ludwig Van Beethoven CD (1995)
Izutsu music CDs
$16.29
| | Stabat Mater, Classical Music For Relection & Meditation CD (1999)
$7.89 | | Max Reger Wagner: Highlights CD (1999)
$18.05 | | Classical Music Start-Up Kit, Vol. 2: 1825-1945 CD
$6.59 | | Soli Deo Gloria Cantorum Arvo The Magnificat CD (1994)
Izutsu songs
$10.15
| | Works For Bassoon & Piano Works For Bassoon & Piano CD (1998)
Izutsu album
$10.15
"A pianist of a special quality" was the first critical response to gifted young pianist Shoshana Rudiakov on the occasion of her debut in Israel. Born in Riga, Larvia, she completed her formal studies at the famous Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Professor Jacov Flier and Bella Davidovitch. She concertized extensively in Russia before emigrating to Israel. There she was engaged as soloist with the Israel Philharmonic, ...
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