MAO FUJITA & FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN & ALEXANDER SCRIABIN & AKIO YASHIRO - 72 Preludes | CD

Mao Fujita’s New Recording: 72 Preludes. Three cycles of Preludes by Frédéric Chopin and Alexander Scriabin, plus the world premiere recording of Akio Yashiro’s “24 Preludes”. Following his “consistently impressive” (Gramophone) journey through the complete Mozart piano sonatas for Sony Classical – awarded an Opus Klassik Award – Japanese pianist Mao Fujita has recorded an equally ambitious project. In doing so, Mao Fujita unites Europe where he now lives and Japan where he was born and grew up. Chopin’s 24 Preludes, completed in 1839, were the first to treat the piano prelude as a standalone work. In 1884, the Russian visionary Alexander Scriabin began work on his own set of 24 Preludes, directly inspired by Chopin’s. Akio Yashiro was born in Tokyo and studied with Olivier Messiaen in Paris, where they became close friends. His 24 Preludes, which follow the same cycle of keys as Chopin’s and Scriabin’s, date from 1945 – before the then 15-year-old composer had travelled to Europe. The works incorporate a wide variety of moods and styles, with the young composer exploring various harmonic and rhythmic devices with panache. Mao Fujita compares the content of his new recording to a refreshing yet substantial sushi meal: “If Chopin and Scriabin are the fish and the rice, the foundation, Yashiro is the wasabi – equally vital, and with that special kick that creates something delicious.”