Anyone hearing this disc would have to conclude that Toshiro Mayuzumi was certainly among the most accomplished of modern day, Japanese composers. The four works included here display different facets of his creative output. "Bogaku" was commissioned by the New York City Ballet and is based on ancient Japanese imperial dances. Anyone who remembers the old Denon LP of this will recall that it's extremely powerful music, masterfully orchestrated and an audiophile's dream come true, if properly recorded, as it is here. Batten down your speakers! The "Mandala Symphony" was inspired by Buddhist teaching and certainly sounds Japanese. Its two movements represent the descent of Buddha to enlighten man and man's ascent to seek enlightenment. They're joined musically through two "hexatone" rows based on the overtones of bells found in Japanese, Buddhist temples. Again, the orchestration is simply amazing and the sonic effect, dramatically overpowering. The program also includes two much earlier works, both of which are indicative of the composer's early preoccupation with French impressionism. They also show Latin American as well as Southeast Asian influences, which were acquired during the World War II years, but the lion's claws of Mayuzumi's dynamism show through in a number of places. "Symphonic Mood" was described by the composer as a musical expression of nostalgia, while the "Rhumba Rhapsody," which receives its premiere performance here, was in some ways an early sketch for the second half of the former. If you like this music, by all means investigate that of Toshiro's teachers, Kunihiko Hashimoto and Akira Ifukube.

--Review by Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost & Found, February 9, 2006