Joe Hisaishi: Concerto for Orchestra travels internationally
The latest work by composer Joe Hisaishi is a Concerto for Orchestra with performances in coming months in the USA and Singapore with the Colorado Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and Orchestre de Paris. First European performances follow in November with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer’s baton in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.
Joe Hisaishi’s Concerto for Orchestra received first performances in May and July from the National Symphony in Washington, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, revealing a major new contribution to the genre established by Béla Bartók, Witold Lutoslawski, and Zoltán Kodály, highlighting soloists and sections within the orchestra. Though famed for his Studio Ghibli film scores, a recent feature in The New York Times described how classical music was Hisaishi’s first love and how he aims to spread this love to new audiences by programming classical standards and minimalist favourites alongside his own scores.
> Hisaishi feature in The New York Times
Hisaishi as conductor has programmed the 45-minute Concerto for Orchestra internationally this autumn with leading orchestras across three continents. This month sees two performances by the Colorado Symphony (16-17 Oct) and three by the San Francisco Symphony (22-24 Oct), and the Orchestre de Paris travels with the work to Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall for its first Asian performances (12-13 Nov). The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra presents the first European performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London together with the UK premiere of his Adagio for 2 Harps and Strings (23 Nov), followed by a World Dream tour of Germany and Switzerland visiting Munich, Lucerne, Stuttgart, Berlin and Hamburg (25 Nov – 2 Dec), all under the baton of the composer.
> Hisaishi concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
“Hisaishi’s Concerto for Orchestra, co-commissioned by eight orchestras across three continents, revealed his ability to bring ‘classical music’ to fans of all musical genres. Multiple keyboards anchor its harmonic architecture, their interlocking voices lending lighter passages an almost enchanted quality… The full orchestral palette is commanded across all five movements: driving rhythmic intensity giving way to passages of the most delicate transparency; brass of power and precision; woodwinds darting through intricate figures; strings shifting between urgency and lyrical ease.”
MySCENA, Toronto
“Concerto for Orchestra is propelled by a repetitive, rhythmic structure. Hisaishi uses an expanded percussion section, complete with piano and celesta, to act as the engine of the orchestra. The energetic first movement featured experimental harmonies, while the whimsical second movement had elements of jazz. The fragmented rhythm of the third movement evoked a sense of chaos, punctuated by African drumbeats. The brief flute, clarinet and harp solos in the fourth served as a reflective counterpart to the second movement. The final movement combined the rhythmic and lyrical elements of the earlier movements into a large, culminating statement.”
LudwigVan, Toronto
Concerto for Orchestra is co-commissioned by an international consortium including the National Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, JH Foundation, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Joe Hisaishi is currently composer-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra and next spring brings further performances of Concerto for Orchestra coupled with the world premiere of his new Piano Concerto for Alice Sara Ott (5-7 Mar).
> Further information on Work: Concerto for Orchestra
Photo: Nick Rutter