August 2008 December 2007 June 2007 January 2007
Dear Friends,
The first half of the year has gone by very quickly: we are already gearing up for the next Concert Season. This year I have focused on recordings.
I am currently half-way through recording 32 Beethoven Sonatas (a ten-CD collection) with Pentatone. This year, I worked with a dream team, including Wilhelm Hellweg, a legendary producer, Jean Marie Geijsen, whose miraculous touch produced amazing sound and “color,” as well as Michel Brandjes. This was our third time working together, and we had a wonderful week. We recorded in an amazing studio in Holland. It was originally a large barn, next to a farm house. The farm house had been transformed into a concert hall, with high ceilings. I appreciated the use of natural wood throughout the structure. It has become one of the most popular chamber concert halls in Holland. We worked 13-hour days, though it was so much fun that we lost all sense of time, as we cooked our meals between recording sessions. Though it was Easter-time, it was snowing there, and, on one occasion, we had to stop recording due to the sound of the hail stones hitting the windows. The CD from this recording session will probably be released early next year and will be Beethoven Sonatas Op. 2 Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Op 14 Nos. 1 and 2, and Op 49, Nos 1 and 2, Op 54 and Op. 79.
In terms of my performances, this year marked a mile stone in that I re-introduced some repertoires that I have not played in over 10 years. These included Beethoven Concerto No. 5, which I played in Canada, Schumann Sonata and Chopin Ballads in Germany, and Schubert Sonata for La Folle Journée in Tokyo.
One of the most unusual experiences I had was playing the Bach Triple Concerto with Japanese Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone and my sister, Momo. Mr. Ozone is an amazing musician who improvised his Cadenza. Although we were approaching the piece from totally difference perspectives, the three of us were able to communicate seamlessly and enjoyed the experience on stage as much as the audience seemed to enjoy it in the hall.
Our daughter Karin participated in the International Rubinstein Competition in Paris and won first place. It was highly competitive and challenging event, but she was rewarded by the warm applause she received from the audience. As musicians ourselves, her dad and I know how hard it is to play in a competition, so we are very proud of her accomplishment at nine years old. Next, she has been invited to play with an Orchestra for the first time. She will play a Mozart Concerto with an Orchestra in San Luis Obispo, California, where Kent grew up and where his parents still live.
Kent had a successful concert tour with the Montreal Orchestra Symphony, which traveled to both New York and Japan this spring. It coincided with the release of a CD, which included Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Egmond. The Montreal Orchestra Symphony, while known mostly for their French repertoire, has a very special German repertoire. This recording has quickly become one of their most successful recordings.
I hope that you are well and are having an enjoyable summer,
Mari
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