Yumiko Endo Schlaffer - Rhapsodie: Prism of 20th Century Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A showcase for two masterful musicians, InchFissuresInch presents saxophonist Idit Shner and harpist Yumiko Endo Schlaffer in a program of works for this unique combination of instruments that has rarely been represented in recorded form. A wide array of composers and musical expression are explored, from Rokus de Groot's bass saxophone feature InchCadenza,Inch and Dr. Yusef Lateef's light and transparent InchRomance.Inch Album Tracks 1. Une Fleur Sur L'ètang - I. Dédicace 2. Une Fleur Sur L'ètang - II. La Nuit 3. Une Fleur Sur L'ètang - III. Le Fleur 4. Ofaerufoss 5. Capricho Mediterráneo 6. Elegy 7. Cadenza 8. Sonatine Hommage À Mozart - I 9. Sonatine Hommage À Mozart - II 10. Sonatine Hommage À Mozart - III 11. Hiraeth 12. Fissures 13. Romance I. with Love 14. Romance II. Cheerfully 15. Romance III

Takashi Yoshimatsu's wide-ranging musical influences often combine jazz and rock elements with classical, folk and world music. This album focuses on a unique series of three solo piano works for the left hand, inspired by his great friend Izumi Tateno. These lyric and beautiful miniatures are saturated in nature and birdsong, as can be heard in the evocative Tapiola Visions and in the seven bouquets that form Ainola Lyrical Ballads which are dedicated to Sibelius. In Gauche Dances, we hear a sequence that includes the tango and boogie woogie, displaying how eagerly and ebulliently Yoshimatsu breaks boundaries. Album Tracks 1. Tapiola Visions, Op. 92 (2004) 2. Ainola Lyrical Ballads, Op. 95 (2006) 3. Gauche Dances, Op. 96 (2006)

Both Camille Saint-Saens and Francis Poulenc were engaged in the composition of wind sonatas towards the end of their lives. Poulenc's wonderful clarinet sonata is one of the composer's last completed compositions. Selvadore Rahni (clarinet) and Tuuli Rahni (piano) have recorded here some of the most beautiful contributions of the French repertoire for clarinet and piano. Clarinetist and composer Selvadore Rähni is one of the most well-known Estonian clarinetists in the world. Active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, he is also well-known in Japan, where he served as the principal clarinetist of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra from 1997 until 2005 and recorded as principal clarinet with KSO for the National TV and Radio of Japan as well as record company Arte Nova. Pianist Tuuli Rähni was born in Tallinn, Estonia. She began her musical studies at the age of three. From 1975 to 1986, she studied piano at Tallinn Music High School under Ülle Sisa, and graduated with honors under the guidance of Ivo Sillamaa. From 1986 to 1991, she studied at the Tallinn State Conservatory (subsequently renamed the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre) under the guidance of Prof. Peep Lassmann, and graduated cum laude. Album Tracks 1. Clarinet Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 167 2. First Rhapsody for Clarinet in B-Flat Major 3. Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in B-Flat Major 4. Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano