An old memorable CD

Years ago, I used to go to Tokyo regularly once a month or so. To play chamber music with friends or to do shopping. In 2008, when I was down in Tokyo, I accidentally found this CD shown below at a store close to my mother school. It was a fun for me to look around such a store for some CDs. It was a time when internet down loading was not popular and there were a lot of CDs in the market. This CD is a recording of a couple of string quartets of Mozart performed by Iwamoto Mari String Quartet in 1975. It made me feel more nostalgic than anything.

It won't take me a minuite to decide to purchase it. I used to be an audience member of their regular concerts for a while. It was held at a hall in Ueno once a month. At the very first concert I attended, they have played one of the quartets recorded in this CD, that is, d minor KV421 of Mozart. It was early '70s.

It starts with a lament song by the 1st violin. The 1st violin player, Mari Iwamoto, a long haired beautiful lady, sung it rather gallantly. The cello in charge of the bass part in the harmony has supported the whole ensemble. The cellist was Toshio Kuronuma, who was a professor at a music university. It is still surprising how vividly I could remember the scene at the concert.  

                      

This recording was taken a bit later than I listened that live performance. The hall was just not for music but for public use. It has dead acoustic not ideal for string music recording without suitable reverberation. But the dead environment rendered clearer articulation of each instrument than at richly acoustic halls. Simple sounds and, if I dare to say, idyllic. Ever since, this CD has been an important favorite for me. It always calms my mind down when it gets desolate.

The 1st violinist and the cellist have long been dead. The violist is still instructing an amateur orchestra in this area, even though I have never met him. I know little about the 2nd violinist. They have put an end to the quartet's activity in a few year since I listened them, that is, late '70s.

At that time, I was living in the dorm of the med school preparatory course in Chiba. When the concert was over, I often took a but back there. Possibly around 9PM, there were less lights seen through the window when the bus got out of Tokyo. Crossing a big river named Edogawa between Tokyo and Chiba, I could see several lights far away moving back in the sight. I vaguely thought my life might go on as if this kaleidoscope like scenary did. I should be too young to think own life that way but it was what came up in my mind on the way. This CD reminds me of such a thing, either.