Tokyo Symphony: Brahms and Vaughn Williams
The Tokyo Symphony performed at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space on March 19 under the baton of Naoto Otomo.
The program began with a warhorse, the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto featuring recording artist Michie Koyama as soloist. Unlike many Japanese female pianists, she did not appear in a fluffy ball gown, and she played with both vigor and sensitivity. I’ve always felt that the fourth movement of this concerto is anti-climactic. And this performance did nothing to change my conviction that the first three movements are the heart and soul of this concerto. It was an excellent performance by both orchestra and soloist.
But my reason for attending was to hear Vaughn Williams’ “Sinfonia Antartica”. Very little of Vaughn Williams is performed in Tokyo, for some reason, and his music is one of my guilty pleasures. That being said, this seventh symphony is probably my least favorite. Having never heard a live performance, I thought perhaps that its scope is lost in recordings. I was wrong. It is literally movie music patched into a symphonic package – the original music having been written for the film “Scott of the Antarctic”. Several times there were passages accompanied by figures in the percussion section repeated ad nauseam.
But, how can one resist any piece featuring the wind machine? It appeared in two movements, and was even doubled in the final movement. Along with the doleful keening of the women’s choir, it was quite atmospheric but ultimately insubstantial.
My favorite moment is in the middle movement when the organ chimes in. The auditorium is equipped with two back-to-back organs on turntables – one baroque and one modern. At this performance the modern organ was naturally used, and it does produce a thunderous sound. Check out photos at
http://www.geigeki.jp/english/index.html
Kanto Plains Choral Festival
The Kanto Plains Choral Festival was held at the University of the Sacred Heart Marion Hall on March 16. This annual event features the choirs and choral ensembles of the local international and US base schools, and it repeatedly proves that fine choral performances are routine for some of these high school ensembles.
The major players usually are The Christian Academy in Japan, St. Mary’s International School, and the International School of the Sacred Heart, as they were again this year.
Although CAJ performs beautifully, the choice of music unfortunately tends to be of the “Praise the Lord with Jubilation” genre. This year, however, one of their pieces featured an aleatory section which was breathtaking.
The base schools tried their best, but were hampered by tiny forces. The exception was Kinnick High School which has made tremendous strides over the past years.
The highlights included performances by St. Mary’s Mens’ Choir (although many of them looked, and undoubtedly were, 14 years old) and the Varsity Ensemble. They produce a full, robust sound and sing interesting music. They are best experienced with eyes closed, however, since they believe in waving their arms around and bobbing and weaving while singing. Perhaps it accounts for their excellent sound, but visually it’s very distracting.
Sacred Heart is always fantastic – beautiful singing and interesting music. Highlights this year included Walker’s “My Love Walks in Velvet” which was gorgeous and the Vocal Ensemble’s foray into Egyptian and Lebanese music “Ya Faroule” which was stunning.
The very best singers of all the schools form the Kanto Plains Honor Choir which performed two works, including another with aleatory sections. It was stunning, and the quality of performance measured up to any I have heard from professional groups in Tokyo.
Finally, all 500 students performed Stroope’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah”. And there is little more musically thrilling than being one of 15 audience members sitting on a stage while 500 singers seated in the audience serenade you.
Sankai Juku
I attended a performance Sankai Juku’s latest work “Toki” on March 17. This was my sixth or seventh butoh performance, the majority of which have been by Sankai Juku. And, as is always the case, I had to readjust my thinking and become non-linear – rather a chore for me.
During these slow-moving performances I am usually baffled by the complete lack of narrative, and this was no exception. There are moments of austere beauty, and long moments of acute boredom. Yet, weeks later many of the images are very clear in my memory. There’s something magical about the experience. I am so accustomed to immediate satisfaction and a thrill a minute, that the patience required by butoh seems hard work. Yet, there have always been rewards.
My first experience with butoh was seeing a news film on television some years ago about a butoh performance in Seattle which had gone terribly wrong. The film showed two nearly naked, white painted men suspended high above a crowd slowly moving in the deliberate, often awkward manner of butoh. Suddenly one of the ropes snapped, and one of the performers plummeted to his death. What struck me was the reaction of the other performer – he kept his position, but just opened his eyes very widely. I was struck by his discipline – impressed and horrified. I did a little internet research the other day and found out that the troupe in Seattle was the same Sankai Juku.
Although there were seven scenes, trying to describe them leaves me at a loss for words. Some photos can be found on their web site:
http://www.sankaijuku.com/
Tokyo Opera's Forza
I attended the opening of “La Forza del Destino” at the New National Theater Opera House in Tokyo on March 15. I usually attend performances of later composers, but I thought this might be interesting. It wasn’t.
As so often happens, the Tokyo Opera seems to spend its money on the production and not on the singers. And, as also often happens, the production was slightly wacky, very overblown, and sensational without being very thoughtful.
The production designer, Emilio Sagi, decided to set the action during the Spanish Civil War, which I admit isn’t in itself too off the wall. But, Leonora still has to seek refuge in a monastery, and the clerical facets of the story are pretty important – and how that fit into the Spanish Civil War escaped me.
It all fell apart in the 3rd act which seemed to take place in a giant dormitory – presumably a hospital. At the end of the act we had Preziosilla singing her “Glory to War” ditty with partisans waving both flags and giant hula hoops. What?? Rather disturbing for the patients wouldn’t one think.
The crowd scenes at the Tokyo Opera are always very distracting. The extras seem to feel that they each must adopt a distinct persona; and the results usually entail a lot of mincing around, pantomimed chatter, and face pulling. This was no exception.
But the worst false note of the evening was having Fra Melitone play his part for laughs – the Spanish Civil War and starving civilians are so jolly, after all.
The singing was mediocre. Christopher Robertson as Don Carlo was probably the highlight vocally of the evening, but nothing to write home about. Robert Dean Smith as Don Alvaro, Anna Shafajinskaia as Leonora, and Jyrki Korhonen as Padre Guardiano were adequate but certainly not stellar. Akemi Sakamoto as Preziosilla was actually quite miscast, and she earned a boo from one audience member during the curtain calls.
When I think back to the Tokyo Opera productions I’ve seen over the past years, I seem to have been rarely satisfied by the singing – serviceable but not first rate – and the productions – sensational for sensationalism’s sake. But, the orchestra always saves the evening, and this night was no exception. The Tokyo Symphony under Michiyoshi Inoue was, as always excellent. But, at $250 a ticket, I expect the whole package.
Photos can be seen at
http://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/frecord/opera/2005%7E2006/forza/forza.html
