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\"In this masterclass [Evelyn Glennie] works on two twentieth century percussion compositions\"--Original container.

The American premiere of Mr. [MINORU MIKI]'s composition, titled \"Symphony of Two Worlds,\" is to take place this evening at a Philharmonic concert in Avery Fisher Hall.

The attempt to blend Western musical traditions with those of the Orient has a rich history. Such composers as Debussy, Puccini, Holst, Britten, Mahler and Webern have expropriated Eastern musical ideas while still holding to an unmistakably Western viewpoint. A few Oriental composers, such as Toru Takemitsu, have approached from the other direction, in hopes of retaining the integrity of their own heritage while making its essence accessible to Western audiences. That is what the contemporary Japanese composer Minoru Miki has tried to do in ''An Actor's Revenge,'' his ''Kabuki opera,'' which was given its American premiere last night by the Opera Theater of St. Louis. All this may sound confusing, and it does take getting used to. However, ''An Actor's Revenge'' adds up to an absorbing evening of music drama, spiced with wonderfully convoluted intrigues and lots of the noisy, convulsive violence that is a staple of popular drama, East or West. A production as risky and as exotic as ''An Actor's Revenge'' is an ambitious project for an opera company now only in its sixth season, but the troupe that Richard Gaddes has put together in this city plainly has reached the point where few operatic enterprises would be beyond its grasp.

\"The plucked sounds of the pipa give the orchestra a superficial 'Asian' sound, and an appealing vibrancy and expressiveness,\" Philip Kennicott commented in The Washington Post. \"Indeed, traditional instrumentalist [Yang Jing] bore much of the musical weight throughout the evening, playing with astonishing facility.\" As a soloist engaged by \"Japan Arts,\" Yang has co-operated with a number of orchestras in Japan to perform pipa concertos by [Minoru Miki]. Yang met [Pierre Favre] two years ago at a jazz festival in Switzerland. She was drawn to his music, which she found both melodious and spacious. In Zurich, Yang spent three days at Favre's home. In his studio underground, amongst scattered musical instruments, they began to play a game.

Nonetheless, this is a very affecting work, and the present production is optimum in just about every aspect: [Cohn Graham]'s grandiose yet stylized staging, Setsu Asakara's vivid sets and costumes, Kikusiro Onoe's choreography; and not least, Steuart Bedford's valiant musical direction of an intricate score that includes not only the standard Western instruments but also -- quite prominently - - Japanese koto and pipa. [Minoru Miki]'s idiom is, for the most part, tonal in a late 20th-century way, flavored with Japanese elements. Still, the work is closer to Puccini or Barber than Kabuki or Noh. As appealing as it is, however, the score of \"Genji\" does not quite carry its inordinate length (over three hours with a single intermission). *At the other end of the spectrum is Handel's \"Radamisto\" -- a melodic rarity that James Robinson has staged in such lively fashion as to make us forget the static nature of 18th-century opera seria, which features elaborate solo arias of reflection interspersed with recitative that puts forward what action there is. Countertenor Rymand Angel excelled in the title part (written for a castrato) with electrifying vocalism and a many-sided emotional scope. His grasp of the Baroque style was matched by the distinguished, knowing work of conductor Grant Llewellen -- who will succeed Christopher Hogwood next year as artistic director of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society.

\"Both Japanese and European cultures are standing on the wall now,\" says (Minoru) Miki, 68. \"They cannot continue to develop in their independent ways. I believe that a new culture must be created by the collision of different preceding cultures. So I have never refused either Japanese or European elements in my music, although I am always trying to establish my own identity.\" Some of that identity will be established for local audiences when the 12-member Pro Musica Nipponia touring ensemble takes the stage tonight at Marsee Auditorium of El Camino College. Founded by Miki in 1964, Pro Musica Nipponia is a chamber orchestra of Japanese instruments, its kimono-clad musicians now conducted by Takuo Tamura. \"The Japanese name that I gave the ensemble is Nihon Ongaku Shudan, which has a double meaning,\" Miki reports. \"One meaning is a group of Japanese traditional instruments; the other is a music ensemble representing Japan. At the beginning, one of my teachers gave us the name Ensemble Nipponia for foreign use, but I didn't like that name. When my 'Symphony for Two Worlds' had its world premiere in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1981, Kurt Masur presented us as Pro Musica Nipponia, which we have kept.\"

\"I describe feelings with instruments,\" says Miki. His \"grand opera\" adaptation will incorporate a special koto ensemble. In this one, he uses a standard orchestra augmented by three Japanese instruments. There are several instruments mentioned in the book, including the flute, koto (a kind of long zither), pipa (a four- stringed lute) and qin (another variety of zither). The Japanese flute will be imitated by piccolos, with two Japanese instrumentalists (one performing on a 21-stringed koto, the other doubling on qin and pipa) sitting on a bridge over the orchestra pit.Miki notes that \"the period 1,000 years ago was very different from our period. The music should be more naive, but I am a contemporary musician, so I compose in my way. I use many techniques to compose.\" Judging from the music heard at a recent staging rehearsal, his way should appeal to many ears, a winning combination of Western and Eastern modes and melodies that make a lyrical whole. The cast is headed by baritone Mel Ulrich, heard in last year's production of \"Pearl FishersOthers in the cast include bass-baritone Andrew Wentzel as the Old Emperor and Recluse; mezzo-soprano Josepha Gayer as Kokiden, mother of the crown prince and the nun Shonagon; soprano Cher yl Evans in the roles of the jealous Lady Rokujo and the lady of Akashi; mezzo-soprano Jessica Miller as Aoi, Genji's \"official wife\"; tenor Richard Troxell as Genji's brother-in-law To- No-Chujo; and baritone Carleton Chambers as the crown prince Suzaku. With a libretto by Opera Theatre artistic director Colin Graham and music by Minoru Miki, \"Genji\" adapts portions of the book, a Japanese classic for the last millennium. Genji, the \"Shining Prince,\" is gifted in all the ways that matter to an aristocrat, but he is morally flawed: a Don Juan who comes to have a conscience.

For their first Young People's Concert of the season on Saturday afternoon at Avery Fisher Hall, Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic undertook the difficult task of introducing Minoru Miki's \"Symphony of Two Worlds,\" a complex score involving both European and Japanese instruments. There were successes in the presentation but also some problems, most revolving around language. Mr.

The music wraps Eastern essence in Western ambience; despite liberal doses of the traditional koto, pipa and qin (ch'in) as instrumental accents, the orchestration used familiar, accessible harmonic language to create a narrative less concerned with incident than with internal (i.e. psychological) drama.

The remainder of the afternoon was less satisfying. Beethoven's Trio in C minor (Op. 1, No. 3) received a heavy and none too subtle interpretation. Everything seemed big, bold, hyperkinetic and larger than life - this is what is essentially a songful work in Classical style. Schumann's Trio in D minor (Op. 63) was more successful, but even here this listener would have welcomed a more relaxed, temperate performance.