Tsugio Tokunaga - Khachaturian: Violin Concerto, Saint-Saëns: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Bizet: “L'Arlésienne” Suite No. 1 & Suite No. 2 (2025 Mastering) - Japan SACD Hybrid Limited Edition

Credits:

Tsugio Tokunaga

Description:

＜The 60th anniversary of Tokunaga's career in the world of music The debut recording of Khachaturian by Fumio Tokunaga, who will celebrate his 60th anniversary in 2026, will be digitized and reissued on SACD for the first time! The record of the passionate performance by the young artist who was called a genius when he became the concertmaster of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at the age of just 19 years old! Coupling with other "phantom sound sources"! First SACD reissue of the original analog master tapes! New preface commentary is included. Mastered in pursuit of the original sound. He was appointed as the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra's conmaster at the young age of 19, and led the orchestra as the NHK Symphony Orchestra's conmaster for a long period of time. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Tokunaga's career as a world-class violinist, the Victor sound recording of his debut has been reissued on SACD. This is the first digitalization. At the time when audio manufacturers were actively working on 4-channel records, Kazuyoshi Akiyama recorded several records with Victor using the CD-4 standard, and with the exception of Saint-Saens, the recordings included on this CD were recorded in this series. The recordings in this CD have been re-mastered to reproduce the realistic sound of 4-channel recordings. Please enjoy the passionate performance by the young talents, Futao Tokunaga and Kazuyoshi Akiyama. The session recording of Khachaturian's "Violin Concerto," made at Suginami Public Hall on March 16-18, 1971, is a "memorial performance of youth" by two of the greatest performers in the Japanese classical music world: conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama and violinist Kazuo Tokunaga. --It is a masterpiece that should be called a "monument of youth" by two of Japan's greatest classical music performers: conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama and violinist Futao Tokunaga. At the time of the recording, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was 30 years old, and Kazuo Tokunaga was 24. They had been conductors and concertmasters since their days at Toho Gakuen, and they were leading the orchestra as the Music Director and Concertmaster of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Khachaturian's "Violin Concerto" was chosen because it was already widely popular in Japan at the time, despite being a contemporary work written in 1940, and after its premiere in Japan in 1954 by the 13-year-old prodigy Shigeo Watanabe, Hisako Tsuji performed it repeatedly as her specialty repertoire.In addition, the former Soviet Union's master musicians Oistrakh and his son and Kogan performed when they visited Japan, and a total of 10 LP records were released in Japan by 1971: D. Oistrakh (3 types), Kogan (2 types), Schelling (2 types), I. Oistrakh, Rich, Bernhardt, and others. Behind Victor's aggressive promotion of in-house recordings was its strategy to popularize the CD-4, a new 4-channel stereo technology developed by the company's Acoustic Division in 1970. High-quality software was indispensable for the popularization of the device, and a series of recordings were made, including the complete Beethoven symphonies by the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Masur (co-produced with the East German Eterna Orchestra) and Mahler's "Symphony No. 8" by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Takashi Asahina. This is the first CD and SACD release of these works, and we are amazed at the vividness and vividness of both the performances and recordings. Tokunaga's powerful technique and youthful energy, his confident delivery, and the lyricism that overflows from the melody sung as if gushing out are truly appealing. Akiyama and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra's exquisite ensemble, brilliant tone, and advancing power are also "tremendous. This is a high-voltage, ethnically rich masterpiece that will make you thoroughly enjoy it. (1/2)