The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Feel the music at Toyota Classic 2012 Posted: 07 Oct 2012 02:19 AM PDT Music is a great art form, but at the same time a means to an end, because it can touch people, console people or add more purpose to life," said music conductor Joji Hattori (pic), defining the quintessence of music. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the "Look East Policy", Toyota Classic 2012 is set to enthrall Malaysian music lovers next month with a performance by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Hattori, and featuring soloist Soiichi Muraji on classical guitar. Hattori is one of the leading Japanese musicians of his generation and has enjoyed a storied career as an award-winning concert violinist, progressing to directing a chamber orchestra, conducting symphony orchestras and finally, operas. He is counted as among one of the very few Asian musicians who is respected internationally for his interpretation of the Viennese Classics. As a guest conductor, Hattori regularly works with many distinguished orchestras including the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Slovakian Philharmonic and the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra Japan. He has worked with renowned soloists including Maria João Pires, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Piotr Anderszewski. Raised in Vienna, Austria, to Japanese parents, Hattori seems to have music running through his veins. His mother was a successful violinist while his father was a passionate music lover, and one of his first cousins was the famous Japanese composer Ikuma Dan. He started playing the violin at the age of five and studied at the Vienna Academy of Music, furthering his studies under the tutelage of both Yehudi Menuhin and Vladimir Spivakov. "I admired Menuhin's ability to express love through music and also his constant drive to use his fame in order to help other people instead of using it for his own financial enrichment." He won the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of 20. "Interestingly, although I studied the violin under both Menuhin and Spivakov, both were great conductors, too. I am sure that I learned a lot about conducting while often being their soloist when they conducted. I had many lessons with Menuhin, but they were about musical interpretation. With Spivakov, I can say that I owe my entire violin playing technique to his dedicated teaching," Hattori shared. He believes that music is his calling but definitely not the sum of his entire life's work. "Although running a hospital in Africa is not my dream, another role model for my life besides Menuhin is Albert Schweitzer, who was one of the greatest organ players of his time and simultaneously a practising medical doctor who stopped his musical career at the age of 38 in order to become a medical missionary in Africa. He was also a great philosopher and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. "My own achievements so far are so much less than Schweitzer's but I admire his wide interests in all aspects of life. I strongly believe that music is only one part of human culture and civilisation. I do not want to limit my life's work to music only," Hattori explained. "My childhood dream was to be General Secretary of the United Nations if I wasn't a musician. It may not be too late!" To mark his maiden performance in Malaysia, Hattori will add some local flavour by playing music by the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee. "His style of music is not yet very familiar to me but I like it very much because it is music that's full of emotion. The main purpose of music for me is to move people, not just to impress or entertain. I understand that the three main tunes in our arrangement of P. Ramlee's music derive from three different movies, each of them with deep emotional feelings. I can feel that in his music," Hattori explained. He has also included works by Piazzolla and Rodrigo to show off some wonderful guitar work from Muraji. The Toyota Classics 2012 concert featuring Hattori and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra will be held on Nov 8 at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur. It will be graced by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad with the aim of raising RM300,000 for the Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology and the Persatuan Pemulihan Orang-orang Cacat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan. Tickets to the show are priced at RM220, RM170, RM120 and RM60, and can be purchased from the Box Office, Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, or online at toyota.com.my. |
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