November 9, 2000
Tracks 1 & 2 were recorded live on August 8, 1977,
at Festival Hall. Tracks 3, 4 & 5 on February 1, 1987
at Suntory Hall and Track 6 on April 6, 1980 at Tokyo
Bunka Kaikan.
This is a nice sounding CD but most of the music here
has appeared on other CD's on this site by other conductors
and orchestras. Tracks 1 & 2 appear on "Japanese Orchestral
Music" on the BIS label, # BIS-CD-490. Tracks 3 through 5
appear on two other CD's, "The Artistry Of Akira Ifukube 2"
on King Records, # KICC-176 and also on "Akira Ifukube -
Profile Of Composer" on Fontec, # FOCD3292. The only
track that I haven't seen or heard elsewhere is Track 6.
The music on the CD is quite good with a good variety of
tempos and styles. There is no Godzilla or monster music
on this CD. Instead we have delightful pieces that sound
somewhat classical and wouldn't be out of place on a
Walt Disney "Fantasia" type soundtrack. If you don't
already have this music on the others CD's mentioned above,
then this is worth owning.
