Ma: Space Between
Furious Artisans, 2022
8/10
A concert pianist who uses the entirety of the instrument for her artistic craft, Mari Kawamura interprets the work of Lei Liang, Katharina Rosenberger, Franz Joseph Hadyn, Toru Takemitsu and Iannis Xenakis with much care.
Liang’s “Garden Eight: Tian-Heaven” starts the listen with much bare warmth, where the delicate keys are very expressive in its brief stay, and Rosenberger’s “Torsion” follows with strong attention to mood in the meticulous and playful spirit.
In the middle, “Piano Sonata in E flat Major, Hob. XVI:49” has the keys dancing with much beauty and adventurousness in the Haydn composition, while Liang’s “Garden Eight: Nan-South” gets intimate and stirring, where minimalism is turned into a refined science.
The last two tracks are among the best, and include the busy and bright “Evryali”, where the agile keys unfold with much charm in the Xenakis original, and “Garden Eight: Bei-North” finishes with much restraint and delicateness in the absorbing exit.
A listen that balances space and time superbly, Kawamura bridges pieces that are seemingly opposite in nature, and the Japanese theme of ‘ma’, i.e. interval or gap, is explored with profound attention to pitch, tone and spectral exploration.
Travels well with: David Loeb- Between Sea And Sky; Icarus Quartet- Big Things