Takemitsu: Corona is a long awaited reissue of a disc one would have thought had appeared on compact disc long ago, but for some reason it never surfaced until now. This is a recording made in London for English Decca in 1973 and was once a coveted LP treasured by connoisseurs of freaked-out classical music under the appellation of "
Roger Woodward plays the Complete Piano Music of
Toru Takemitsu." This was the first recording made by Australian pianist
Woodward, who has moved on to many, many other things since 1973, including making acclaimed recordings of standard literature and themed compilations of classical "hits" for the Australian market, in addition to recording
Feldman,
Xenakis, and revisiting
Takemitsu's complete piano music for Etcetera in 1990. Not quite "complete" even in 1973, Takemitsu: Corona is less so now, as
Takemitsu returned to the piano in a few more pieces composed afterward. This Explore Records reissue, which remains faithful to the original LP, seems short now at 41 minutes, though part of the appeal of the original release was that, owing to its long silences and extreme sense of distance, it seemed to go on forever.