Far Eastern Classical Music Festival Gala Evening: Rites and Sounds

Keep your eyes on the Far East! Says a widely shared view that the future of classical music lies not only in Europe and the United States, but also in Asia. It is not just the young virtuoso musicians that are discovered year in year out that mark the rise of the East, but also the fusion that is creating its own colours and forms by bringing together the two worlds. The First Far Eastern Classical Music Festival, launched by Gábor Farkas, showcases the rich musical culture of Japan. Sunday evening's gala concert will focus on bamboo instruments and the classic sounds of Japanese music.

If the name shakuhachi is not known to everyone, the sound it makes will certainly conjure cherry blossom in your mind. But the traditional Japanese flute, with a history dating back more than 1300 years, has also found its place in modern music. The young virtuoso, Reison Kuroda, for example, decided that he wanted to play it at the age of twenty when he heard a composition by Takemitsu Toru. Since then, he has won numerous prizes with the bamboo instrument and has composed several pieces of music for it.In the first half of the concert will feature his exceptional playing together with koto artist Sumie Kaneko.

The French Impressionists' fascination with East Asia is well known: Maurice Ravel's miniaturist, minimalist style is often compared to the classicist sound of Japanese music. For example, the pentatonic scales of The Tales of Mother Goose, which is played after the intermission, suggest an Eastern influence, but the affinity goes deeper: one can easily imagine oneself looking at Hokusai paintings or Meizzi-era lithographs while listening to this music. After a duet by Eva Yulin-Shen and Gábor Farkas, we will hear Japanese songs sung by Hiroko Kato, followed by three works that reveal more European virtuosity: Chiharu Taki playing Ravel's rhapsody Tzigane, Luosha Fang playing the violin solo in Paganini's short Cantabil, and Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. V transcribed by István Kohán.

Programme

Japanese traditional music
Contributors: Reison Kuroda (shakuhachi), Sumie Kaneko (koto)

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Ravel: Tales of Mother Goose
Contributors: Eva Yulin-Shen, Gábor Farkas (piano)

Two Japanese songs
Soloist: Hiroko Kato (vocals)
Contributor: Gábor Farkas (piano)

Ravel: Gypsy Soloists: Chiharu Taki (violin),
Contributor: Gábor Farkas (piano)

Paganini: Cantabile in D major, for violin and piano
Contributors: Luosha Fang (violin), Eva Yulin-Shen (piano)

Brahms-Kohan: Hungarian dances - 5th Hungarian dances revision
Contributors: István Kohán (clarinet), Eva Yulin-Shen (piano)