Athough this conductor has been discussed from time to time on this list,
he will doubtless be unknown to the majority of readers, many of whom
will never have heard of him at all.  I can only say: don't let the
unfamiliarity of the name put you off one bit.

I have just acquired a live recording of Beethoven's Eroica by an obscure
Japanese company called Canyon with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Takashi Asahina.  It comes at midprice (one and half times
the price of a Naxos CD) but quite ungenerously without any coupling
whatsoever.

The performance is really absolutely extraordinary as anyone who has heard
this conductor would routinely come to expect.  It is simply ridiculous
that someone like Ozawa has achieved an international reputation while a
vastely superior conductor such as Asahina languishes in almost complete
obscurity.  He is very much to 19th century orchestral music what Masaaki
Suzuki is to Baroque music - or perhaps even finer.

I am reminded of an Italian saying which apparently goes that a suit has
to worn for three generations before a man looks good in it.  It has now
been over three generations since the introduction of classical music to
Japan.In fact the cultural assimilation of the Central European tradition
in art was fully underway by the late 19th century, such that by the 1930s
several alternative translations of Martin Heidegger's monumental "Sein
und Zeit" had been published in Japanese whereas an English translation
did not appear until 1969 with the appearance of the MacQuarie-Robinson
translation.  Similarly the philosopher Hegel was studied extensively in
Japanese early last century, and there is an extensive Hegelian tradition
alive in Japanese academic circles, established by the philosopher Suzuki
who created a synthesis of Zen and Hegelianism.  Of course Hegel was a
direct contemporary of Beethoven and their dates coincide remarkably.
It was of Adorno who pointed out the similarity in the way these two
comtemporaries think: they are both fundamentally dialectical in terms
of their approach to structure.

Out of this traditions emerges Tahashi Asahina.  His interpretation
of Beethoven is utterly idiomatic, full of the greatest profundity and
depth as you would hear only in the really great intepreters.  He has a
monumentality that can be heard only with the finest of Beethovians.  Tempi
are broad, and similar to what you might hear from Furtwaengler, yet unlike
with Barenboim there is no sense of him self-consciously looking over his
shoulder at his great predecessor.  At every point his grasp of the
structure of the work as a whole is never lost sight of.  This gives
the unfolding of the work a sense of complete rightness.

Baremboim says that Furtwaengler understands that a composition never
just merely 'is' but is always 'becoming'.  Nothing ever merely 'is'
for everything is always coming into being (Plato).  It means that the
performance is no merely mechanical reproduction but a new creation.
Tempo, time is the unfolding and becoming of that work.  The 'rightness'
(quite irrespective of whether in a purely mechanical-metronomic sense they
correspond to what Beethoven set down) of the tempi comes from a grasp of
the composition as a whole, allowing it to become what it truly 'is'.

Similarly Barenboim stresses that for Furtwaengler the recapitulation was
no longer a repitition of the exposition because of all that had happened
before it.  Celibidache at a live rehearsal I attended insisted that the
recapiculation must not be a mere repitition, it must allow the resolution
(Ausloesung) of all that has gone before it.  Only the really great
musicians are capable of this sort of structural resolution - all the rest
are left to merely repeat themselves.  Listen to the recapitulation in the
opening movement of Asahina's Eroica and there is no question of him merely
repeating himself.

Similarly the orchestral playing Asahina procures from this provincial
orchestra is again remarkable.  You would be forgiven for thinking this
was a European orchestra.I am reminded of the saying that under a great
conductor a village band sounds like the Berlin Phil and under a bad one
the Berlin Phil sounds like a village band.  This orchestra is more than
a village band in any case, but here they sound just fabulous.  I have
however no understanding why they leave the Saito Kinen Orchestra, who were
recently praised on this discussion group, to a second rater like Ozawa
when there are giants like Asahina (now something of a living treasure aged
in his 90's!) amongst us.

Obtaining recordings will not be so easy.  Don't waste your time looking
for a recording at your music store.  His recordings are not officially
released outside of Japan.  Fortunately I can however recommend HMV Japan's
website which now can be downloaded in English as well as Japanese:

   http://www.hmv.co.jp/eng.asp

Unfortunately you have to enter Asahina's name in Japanese in the search
engine.  His name only comes up in Japanese.  The performance of the Eroica
reviewed here can be found here:

   http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=507272

All of the symphonies are available separtely.  Those wanting the 7th
should look here:

   http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=507283

Here is the 9th:

   http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=507286

Those willing to buy Asahina's complete Beethoven cycle should look here:

   http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=601470

Estimated price around 150$US.

Although most of the page is in English, the conductor's name comes up only
in Japanese so that those of you who don't read Japanese will just have to
take my word for it that this is the correct item to choose.

If you have any special requests such as Asahina's equally special Bruckner
or even some Mahler from him (which I have yet to hear), you will just have
to e-mail me privately and I will happily give you a helping hand.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia
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