Dear Friends,
I hope that the holiday season has been a good one for you.
2017 was challenging for many who experienced, directly or indirectly, a number of natural disasters and the rising threat of political conflict throughout the world.
Despite the grave situation that sometimes surrounds us, the holiday season comes and goes each year, reminding us to appreciate and celebrate what remains true to us all. For me, a powerful reminder of the seasons’ arrival and this important shift in vantage point is the changing of the leaves in our home of Quebec. The deep red and vibrant yellow leaves are the harbinger of the most joyous season of the year,
then comes the winter lights and seasonal delights as the year comes to an end...
April 6, 2018
MARTINU: Double Concertos
Japanese sisters Mari and Momo Kodama join French sisters Sarah and Deborah Nemtanu in this new recording of Bohuslav Martinu's concertos for violin and piano.
Listen...
August 2017
Il Mondo della Musica
...This recording by Mari Kodama and Momo Kodama, two youthful and well-known Japanese musicians, looks beyond the composer’s versions, and proposes a very different interpretation, one for two pianos...
Read more...
July 2017
Watch Mari on the
STEINWAY & SONS
"Life From The Factory Floor" Series
Mari Kodama:
Introduction
Beethoven's
Für Elise
Couperin's
Le tic toc choc ou Les maillotins
June 2017
CD DeFalla
Pizzicato
Highly colourful performances with typical Spanish flair. The Suisse Romande Orchestra is in top form and sounds absolutely great in this outstanding surround recording.
Remy Franck
Read more...
February 2017
CD OF THE MONTH
The Record Geijutsu
From the beginning till the end there is no single flaw in the Kodama sisters’ musical presentation.
The throughout outstanding performance is an interesting delight for music lovers.
Listening to this music opens a realm of bliss. …
One can tell that the two sisters enjoyed their playing, which makes the listening joyful as well. Their success derives from their great talent and they both benefit from their collaboration.
Jiro Hamada
In surround rendition the full sound of this recording can be enjoyed as if listening to it in the concert hall.
Yoshiyuki Ishida
Read
more...
January 24, 2017
DAZZLING
Review from Allgemeine Zeitung
Dutilleux’ in changing moods dazzling and rushing sonata is a breathless...
Read
more
from Allgemeine Zeitung
December 22,2016
SUBLIME MOMENTS
Review from Sächsische Zeitung Dresden
Mari and Momo Kodama prove with an enchanting Tchaikovsky CD how fanciful and dreamy their piano playing can be and to what fascinating virtuosity they are able to reach. … Here they create great art, very elegant and tenderly played, with sublime moments. The Kodama sisters’ keyboard artistry is not the only aspect that enthralls – the recording is very well produced as well.
Jens-Uwe Sommerschuh
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more...
SPARKLE AND STYLE
Review from the Guardian
The Japanese sisters Mari and Momo Kodama grew up hearing The Nutcracker. That deep familiarity gives their performance of the suite here, transcribed for two pianos ...
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more
from The Guardian, January 8, 2017
BALLET EN NOIR ET BLANC
Review from ARMATAG
“... A very exciting recording, a ‘labour of love’ by two extraordinary pianists whom we dream about seeing perform together Debussy and Ravel for two pianos, four hands....”
Read full article
here.
LISTEN TO MARI ON SPOTIFY
Check out Mari's
'Artist Page'
on Spotify and sample her latest recording.
MARI AND MOMO IN HANOVER
… Together with her sister Momo Kodama she masters it brilliantly, navigating through the turmoil of the opening movement,
letting the melody give consolation in the second movement and speeding with great effect through the finale...
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more
from Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 19. November 2016
When the Japanese Mari and Momo Kodama entered the stage it was already obvious from their distinctively patterned dresses
that the performance would be beyond normal concert routine...
...to play easy is often the most difficult endeavor,
which was mastered by the Kodama sisters in the most convincing manner.
Read
more
from Neue Presse, 19. November 2016
The Kodama sisters on the cover of PIANIST magazine, Netherlands. Read the review
here.
PENTATONE ANNOUNCES
the release (November 1, 2016) of a new recording with dazzling keyboard artistry from Mari and Momo Kodama in rare arrangements of Tchaikovsky’s most-beloved ballets. For more information and to listen to excerpts from this sparkling new CD:
“Together for the first time in the recording studio, the sisters Mari and Momo Kodama are on scintillating
form in these lively arrangements of music from Tchaikovsky’s ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker..."
(HRAudio.net, November 2016)
Read
more...
WATCH Mari and Momo discussing the project
here.
LES CLEFS D'OR - RESMUSICA
Mari's Beethoven 32 Sonata Box Set continues to win accolades - it has been selected as one of Les Clefs d'Or for 2015 by Resmusica
RECORD GEIJUTSU: Record of the Month
Mari's Beethoven 32 Sonata album has been re released in Japan with Japanese translation booklet.
It has been chosen as the CD of the month of December issue of Record Geijutsu. Read full article at:
Toronto Star: Music festival gives a reason to say Bravo Niagara!
Mother-daughter venture off to strong start with Mari Kodama and Karin Kei Nagano at Spring Into Music. Read full article at:
Stenhammar: Piano Sonatas No. 2 - Watch live excerpt of Mari and the
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra perform Wilhelm Stenhammar's piano concerto No. 2. Kent Nagano conducting:
Follow Mari