Maki Namekawa

Philip Glass’ soundtrack to the 1985 film Mishima gained a new following when its opening was used in 1998’s The Truman Show. Pianist Maki Namekawa, an acclaimed interpreter of Glass’ piano works, performs a new arrangement of the atmospheric score, following precisely its original scheme and including as much of the orchestral and chamber textures within the piano version as possible. Namekawa voices Glass’ often heartrending music with a beautiful evenness of touch, a warmth of tone, and a sense of the composer’s compelling narrative arc. In her hands, Mishima emerges renewed, a stand-alone modern masterpiece.

Works include solo pieces, works for two pianos and four hands piano. The works for two pianos include Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and an arrangement of El Salon México by Bernstein. Four Movements for Two Pianos by Glass was commissioned by the Ruhr Piano Festival for its 20th anniversary celebration in 2008 and was premièred by these artists.

On Philip Glass - Songs, Baritone Martin Achrainer and pianist Maki Namekawa give the world premiere recording of Glass's 1997 song-cycle Songs of Milarepa, about the spiritual journey of Milarepa, a Tibetan poet who lived 900 to 1,000 years ago. Martin Achrainer has quickly become a Glass specialist of a kind, having sung in multiple Glass operas including his breakthrough performance as Kepler, the title role of Glass's 2009 grand opera. Namekawa is one of the preeminent artists working with Philip Glass today. Chose by Glass in 2014 to be the first pianist to record his Complete Piano Etudes. The album concludes with Three Songs for Baritone and Piano which is a collection of songs drawn from two sources, Glass's 1989 song opera Hydrogen Jukebox which was created with Allen Ginsberg, and two songs from Monsters of Grace, a multimedia opera created with director Robert Wilson.