TEL : +81(0) 72 887 2560 / FAX : +81(0) 72 887 2561
[Tokyo-Office]1-24-7-408 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo, 160-0022, Japan
TEL : +81(0) 3 5379 3733 , +81(0) 3 3353 0593 / FAX : +81(0) 3 3353 6881 , +81(0) 3 3353 0517
Asahi Shimbun. February 17, 2005.
Conductor: Taijiro Iimori
Orchestra: Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra
Testament to the Mature Kansai Culture of the Prewar Era
We Japanese tend to think any music written by Japanese composers during the prewar era is never worth listening to. But Maestro Taijiro Iimori and the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra proved otherwise on February 13th at Osaka Izumi Hall. Their performance was an extremely novel undertaking that settled once and for all any long-held preconceived notions regarding rumors of poorly written Japanese compositions prior to WWII.
The evening's performance consisted of works by 3 Japanese composers who grew up during the prewar generation in Kansai. Hiroshi Oguri's "Fantasy on Osaka Folk Tunes," written in 1955 was the first composition to be featured. Mr. Oguri (1918-1982) was also a horn player with the Osaka Philharmonic. The venerable prodigy Koichi Kishi (1909-1937) composed his "Japanese Sketches" in 1934. Its debut performance was given by the Berlin Philharmonic in November of the same year. And Hisato Ozawa (1907-1953) wrote hispiano concerto entitled "Kamikaze" in 1938. His performance in Paris received accolades from none other than Arthur Honegger.
Although Japanese, these three artists were able to thoroughly digest the idiomatic and idiosyncratic flavors of western music giving them the ability to achieve a level of expressive freedom few others of their generation achieved. The prewar generation of Japanese composers tend to have a rather starchy and bourgeois bent to them. These three artists are fortunate to be in a class of their own. Their level of sophistication is truly inspiring given the era they grew up in. Their music does not contain a shred of the awkward trappings of a small town geisha performer. Oguri's compositions are reminiscent of Respighi, especially in the manner in which he employs the use of the strings which is nothing short of gorgeous and delightful. Kishi's works are poetic and narrative in nature and contain a mixture of impressionism laced with Russian overtones sprinkled with a bit of Richard Straussian muses which serve to decorate the Japanese esthetics he subtly weaves throughout his compositions. But perhaps the grandest of them all was Ozawa's masterpiece which has been garnering a lot of attention in recent years. This high collar neo-classical composition is the pinnacle of sophistication. His compositional technique borders on the acrobatic.
The hall was filled to capacity and was ringing with thundering applause at the end of each composition. No greater proof is necessary to attest to the audience's sheer delight and total enthrallment in the evening's concert. None of this could have been possible without the leadership of Maestro Iimori and his intuitive understanding of the music. Pianist Akiyoshi Sako tamed the very difficult and challenging Ozawa piano concerto with his technical wizardry giving a superb performance that brought out all the musical gems in all their splendor.
It may be of interest to know that the three composers featured on this evening's program all share a commoncharacteristic. They all hail from the bourgeois class in the Kansai district, achieved their successes without attending music school (Oguri was almost entirely self-taught, Kishi attended Konan High School and Ozawa graduated from Kansai Gakuin), and did not venture to Tokyo to further their compositional careers. This is a testament to the mature Kansai Bourgeois Culture that existed during the prewar generation and, sadly enough, at the same time, is perhaps the main reason why their music had long been buried in the forgotten annals of Japanese music history. It is a tragedy that prewar modernism never flourished long enough to meet modern postwar Japanese music.
(Akeo Okada, musicologist)
Kyoto Shimbun. September 17, 2004
Sako Conducts Mozart Cycles For High Acclaim
Pianist Akiyoshi Sako is a highly acclaimed performing artist known for possessing a solid technique that under girds a mature and balanced interpretative genius.
Aside from an already hectic career as a pianist, in recent years, Mr. Sako has also established a reputation for himself as an accomplished conductor and is regularly featured on annual concert subscription billings with a number of orchestras.
On September 2, Mr. Sako performed with the Kyoto Philharmonic in the 3rd series of concerts entitled, "Mozart Cycles," celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. Mr. Sako adopted the dual role of piano soloist and conductor for this concert given in the small auditorium at Kyoto Concert Hall.
The first half of the program featured the piano artistry of Mr. Sako in a meticulous performance of Mozart's "Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in D, K. 382" and the "Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453." Mr. Sako was unmistakably at his finest giving a high caliber performance that made for an enchanting evening.
Mr. Sako was seated at a lidless concert grand piano with his back facing the audience during the first half of the program. Because of the unique positioning of the piano, one wondered if the notes would reach the audience without downsizing the orchestra a bit. But that concern turned out to be baseless when the performance began. Both piano and orchestra played as if they were floating on air with a lightness and agility that can only be attributed to Mozart. Both compositions were played with an effortless charm.
The moment Mr. Sako stood on the podium and began conducting the second half of the program however, the orchestra exchanged its role as accompanist for the more powerful role of lead actor. Maestro Sako conducted the "Serenata Notturna" and Symphony No. 38 in D (the "Prague"), K. 504 as only he could, carefully placing each note and each phrase within its correct musical context. Every wave of his baton is a musical statement. Perhaps with a bit more attention to acoustical balance between some of the instruments and a bit less attention to the somewhat droning and monotonous loud notes, what otherwise was an enjoyable evening could have become an exhilarating one.
(Takeshi Fukumoto, music critic)
| Artist News | Top Page |
