Toru Takemitsu: NOVEMBER STEPS, etc. (Classic)

Including "November Steps," recorded just one month after the world premiere, this collection features Ozawa's masterful performances that are indispensable when discussing Takemitsu. Rather than unreflectively emphasizing the sensuous touch of Debussy's direct descent, this album is filled with tension and fire, as if the artist had gone back to the moment of its creation and scooped out in one fell swoop a harsh, soaring, isolated beauty. Such a performance by Takemitsu, full of vitality and vigor, is rarely heard today.