~Mie Saito Marimba Recital – Wind from Gaul~
The Pavane sounded like Gould's: the soft, mallet-less rolls melted and vanished piece by piece into the wooden pre-Christmas church space, leaving behind a transparent moment.
Saito Mie's marimba recital "Winds from Gaul" held at St. Paul's Church in Asagaya on December 20th, fully showcased the warmth of the marimba's soft sounds. As the marimba is a type of xylophone, there is a strong image of it being played with a hard, rattling sound like a xylophone, but Saito Mie's marimba brought out the opposite subtlety and softness.
This was clear from the first piece of the concert, but what really took me by surprise was Ravel's "Pavane for a Dead Princess," the last piece of the first half. Arranged for orchestra by Ravel himself, this piece is often performed with the orchestra's expressive tones. In contrast, when arranged by Motoi Yokoya and performed by Mie Saito, the piece becomes stoic, and therefore the restrained sadness of the original piece spills out from the gaps between the sounds. The performance, which does not use rolls and allows the sound of wood, spun with great care, to disappear into space, reminds me of Gould's aria from the Goldberg Variations in his later years.
With all this going on, expectations for the Bach after the break were inevitably building. Saito again gave us a delicate performance, but perhaps due to his focus on softness of sound, the Chaconne lacked a certain severity, leaving me with an impression that something was missing. However, this stoicism was again fully effective in the final chorale, which lured me into a transparent space.
It was an evening in which my mind, which had been numbed by the hustle and bustle of everyday life, felt instantly cleansed.
There were still 380 hostages remaining at the Japanese Embassy in Peru. I wanted to deliver this sound to them.
(Natsuhiko Sakimura)
Mie Saito
marimbali recital
~Wind from Gallia~April 1996, 12
St. Paul's Church
(Tokyo: Asagaya)
NOEL
Dision nau a pleine teste (C.Sermisy 1490-1562)
Dieus soit en cheste maison (A de la Halle 1240-1287)Children\'s Corner – Petite suite pour piano seul (C. Debusy 1862-1918)
Pavane pour une Infante Defunte (M. Ravel 1875-1937)
*** intermission ***
Praludium unt Fuge No.21 B-dur ~ Das Wohltemperierte Clavier ~
Ciaccona d-moll BWV 1004 ~Partita II fur Violino solo~
Choral Nr.33 ~ Ich will dich mit Fleiss bewahren
from Weihnachts Oratorium