Keiko Abe

Keiko Abe has developed her position as a world-class musician thanks to a rare combination of creative power, acute sensitivity and virtuosic technique. Here she plays some of her most well-known and beloved compositions.

The percussionist Vivi Vassileva is one of the most fascinating classical soloists of her generation, and she now releases her debut CD, entitled "singin' rhythm", on the alpha classics label. Born in 1994 to a Bulgarian family of musicians – her mother is a pianist, her father and brother are violinists, her sister plays violin too and she herself learned the instrument – Vivi was captivated by music at an early age especially when she heard some hand drummers playing on a remote, unspoiled beach at the black sea where her parents own a house. It was then that she decided to change from the violin to percussion. With her dynamic, infectious way of making music, Vivi exudes a sense of enjoyment that is in no way limited to the elaboration of rhythms or the igniting of a display of tonal pyrotechnics. Her main aim is to touch people, to tell stories expressed in terms of melodies, harmonies and rhythms.

This is a very unusual–and pleasurable–collection of 20th century works for assorted percussion for solo performer. The soloist in question here is Odd Borge Sagland and it's clear that he is thoroughly familiar with a wide range of instruments, particularly the marimba–and he also knows how to choose a program that will demonstrate his artistry while offering strong listener appeal. Rather than the predictably showy, gimmicky kinds of pieces we usually find on percussion recordings, each of these six works has a solid meditative character–no can banging here.

This release is one of a series by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra on which the group collaborates with Western musicians. All are interesting, but this one has the dual attraction of involving Dame Evelyn Glennie, the deaf Scots percussionist who was a longtime denizen of RCA's roster. After that came to an end, it is indeed good to hear her under the care of even better SACD engineers from the Swedish label BIS, working here in Taipei's Zhongshang Hall. In the opening Concerto for percussion and Chinese orchestra of Yiu-Kwong Chung, written for Glennie, her percussion arsenal results in the production of many layers and subtleties of sound, all faithfully reproduced here.

Recorded in October 2007, just over half a month after the release of her hits collection Crystal Visions, The Soundstage Sessions finds Stevie Nicks running through her hits – both solo and Fleetwood Mac tunes – in front of a small studio audience. This performance, which was also released simultaneously as a DVD, is suitably intimate and respectful of Nicks' original recordings, right down to how "Stand Back" and "If Anyone Falls in Love" are slathered in synthesizers that overwhelm the otherwise subdued arrangements.