Russian virtuoso Lazar Berman's rendition of Liszt's "Years of Pilgrimage" seems to be popular. It's ranked highly on various music streaming sites, and the import version has sold out in CD shops. The out-of-print Japanese version has been reprinted and will be available in stores on the 15th.
This phenomenon is due to the piece's central motif in Haruki Murakami's latest novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage." Most readers will likely be new to this piece and performer. Berman was renowned for his powerful touch, refreshing interpretations that move forward with tempo, and fully-sung Romantic performances. Though he was a 20th-century pianist who lived until 2005, his playing style is more 19th-century. He specializes in Romantic composers, and I particularly enjoy recordings of Liszt and Rachmaninoff.
Among these, Liszt's 1963 recording of "Etudes Transcendentales" is a masterpiece among masterpieces, far surpassing any other pianist. Listen to this breathtaking performance, overcoming one difficult passage after another with tremendous tension and technique. It's so good that you might think Liszt composed "Transcendentes" specifically for Berman. The CD was out of print for a long time and skyrocketed in price on the secondhand market, but it was reissued a few years ago and is now easily available. It's affordable, so I highly recommend giving it a listen. As a piece, it's far more interesting than "Pilgrimage." You can hear Berman at his best. There's also a highly sought-after recording of the early draft of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 performed with Temirkanov, but unfortunately, this is out of print. Haruki Murakami often inserts unnecessary musical details into his highly symbolic stories. Recently, on a radio show with Bakusho Mondai, the Bakusho duo commented, "It's strange that Haruki Murakami's works sell so well. The content isn't particularly easy to understand, and he's probably just enjoying it as fashion." Ota prefers Murakami Ryu, and even went so far as to compare the two. The two Murakamis have often been compared, but while Ryu appears frequently on television, Haruki rarely does. Bakusho commented that this is "a very pretentious attitude." I felt like I'd seen this comparison somewhere before. It's very similar to two of Japan's most iconic brands, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons. While Yohji Yamamoto frequently expresses himself in his books, CDs, and interviews, we rarely see Rei Kawakubo. Murakami Haruki commented in the magazine "Thinker" that he is a fan of Comme des Garçons. In his book, he also reports on a scene where the PR department gives a tour of the Comme des Garçons sewing factory. They both have a wide fan base, from casual fans to hardcore fans. And they even have similar stances, like if you read Haruki, you're a literary intellectual. If you wear Comme des Garçons, you're a fashionista. Is that what Ruitomo is like? It would be interesting to see Haruki and Rei have a conversation.
