VI Plot
The sixth in the series of Masterpieces Performed by NHK Symphony Orchestra presents 3 treasured performances from the orchestra's archives. The 2021 Winter Special kicks off with the official reintroduction of Fabio Luisi appointed as the Chief Conductor of the orchestra starting with the 2022-2023 season. Hailing from Genoa, Italy, Luisi is a world-renowned conductor who has held notable positions with the Metropolitan Opera and Staatskapelle Dresden. From his many previous appearances with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, we present his 2008 collaboration on one of Beethoven's masterpieces as a harbinger of the orchestra's new era under Luisi's tenure. Second in the series is a Tchaikovsky piece with Herbert Blomstedt at the helm with the work of Johannes Brahms as interpreted by Roger Norrington rounding out the triptych. Each presentation is introduced by music critic Katayama Morihide and Yamamoto Miki.
Masterpieces Performed by NHK Symphony Orchestra VI aired on December 21st, 2021.
VI Episodes
1. Fabio Luisi: Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
This 2008 concert of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 was conducted by world-renowned Fabio Luisi who will assume the post of Chief Conductor of the NHKSO in September 2022 for a term of 3 years. There is great anticipation that their collaboration will produce a musicality that widely resonates with our modern time. Beethoven's seventh symphony is a masterpiece that expresses the everyday human emotions of the Viennese through rhythmic devices suggestive of dance. As directed by Luisi and faithfully performed by the NHKSO, this rendition will surely bring the listeners to their feet to dance along with Luisi and the citizens of Vienna. Take pleasure in the carefree and ebullient music, pleasing to both the eye and ear that only an implicit trust and bond between conductor and orchestra can produce.
2. Herbert Blomstedt: Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
If Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 can be characterized as a musical portrayal of a person resolutely going forward overcoming difficulties with unwavering faith, then Blomstedt and the orchestra play as though the symphony was written about them, making this a very personal performance. You are sure to be moved by this performance recorded in September 2011, just 6 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and touted as one of NHKSO's finest performances. While affected areas were still recovering 10 years after this disaster, Japan, along with the world was faced with another horror in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. Find comfort in Blomstedt and NHKSO's musical message that is just as relevant today during these trying times as it was 10 years ago.
3. Roger Norrington: Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
In Maestro Roger Norrington's performance there is no vibrato - since he prefers to move the audience emotionally with pure tones, not by the artifice of vibrato. That was the challenge Norrington and the NHKSO set for themselves in this performance of Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73. Brahms' music known for its flowing quality sounds refreshingly crisp in this performance that could be said to be experimental. The musical height achieved by the uncluttered tone produced by the taut strings alongside other instruments is a revelation, a Brahms performance that can't be heard anywhere else. Revel in a completely different take on a masterpiece that only a courageous challenge can produce. May the challenges in your lives be as fruitful in 2022.
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