Ayako Ishikawa
Tonight I attended Ayako’s Violin Recital at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and I was blown away. The music, the passion, the atmosphere, the acoustics… it was just sublime.
Ayako’s expression of Joe Hisaishi’s works (Princess Monoke, Laputa – Castle in the Sky, Two of Us, and My Neighbour Totoro) were captivating and beautiful.
Along with pianist Clemens Lake (also a talented individual), Japanese guest Shingo Yamada on cello and Yuki on drums, Ayako served up a feast for the ears. I’m still coming down from the experience as I type this.
Other recognisable pieces were A Whole New World (from Aladdin) and You Raise Me Up (Romeo & Juliet version) which I recognised as the recently popular Josh Groban track.
My favourite piece of the night was Hisaishi’s Two of Us. Ayako previously performed the piece at Passion in 2006 with Hiroaki Yura on violin and Natalia Raspopova on piano. Tonight, the interplay between piano, violin and cello was simply breathtaking. What an incredibly romantic piece! It just made me appreciate Joe Hisaishi’s genius more (and I really want that track!).
I particularly enjoyed the subtle glances between Ayako and Shingo just before they launched into a lovely instrumental duet, and the little smiles and nods of acknowledgement.
During one piece Shingo demonstrated his professionalism as his cello kept slipping and he fought to keep it upright whilst playing at the same time. "The show must go on!" I could hear him thinking. Great job Shingo!
Ayako herself is gorgeous, extremely sweet and absolutely adored. Towards the end of the show half a dozen or so fans went onto the stage and presented her with flowers. She was touched and she couldn’t hide her emotions as she thanked everybody and announced an encore.
After the show we took the opportunity to meet Ayoko, get our CDs signed and take a few snaps with the superstar.
Trust me, if you had seen all the people that had stuck around after the show waiting for her then you’d agree. The energy and anticipation in that room was electric.
I actually didn’t know what to say to Ayoko. I was lost for words, and still in shock at the fact that we had managed to get ourselves second in line to meet Ayoko. So as to not look completely star struck I asked Ayoko if she lived in Sydney and she said that she’d been living here for a while. A couple quick snaps later and we were in the car raving about how amazing she was and how great the show was.
Great night indeed.
i went to ANIF 07 SGE (though i was unable to get the composers’ signatures since i was in a hurry after the concert) but i wish i could go to her recital & get the album signed as well… T.T
oh cool, how was ANIF? Hopefully you’ll have more opportunities in future to get the signature.
Look out for Ayako Ishikawa… performing 7 July 2009 at the Conservatorium of Music!
In celebration of tanabata… the Japan Foundation presents Enchanted Sky: a night of Japanese harmony.
Starring Susumu Aoyagi on piano, Takako Hagiwara on flute, Ayako Ishikawa on violin and Risa Kataoka on koto.
Legend has it that star-crossed lovers Altair (cowherd star) and Vega (weaver star) have been separated by the Milky Way river under the rule of an angry king. They are allowed to meet only once a year on 7 July – the Japanese call this day tanabata.
A constellation of harmonies with a unique blend of Western and Japanese sounds, four renowned musicians will weave magical melodies from both classical and modern genres into your hearts, whilst sending their heartfelt wishes to the sky above.
Featuring a marvelling array of favourites including Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, Piazzolla’s Libertango, Massenet’s Meditation from Thais, compositions from Chopin, the score from Oscar-winning film Departures, Michio Miyagi’s Haru no Umi, Rentaro Taki’s Urami and more.
Enchanted Sky: a night of Japanese harmony
7 July 2009, 7:30pm
Verbrugghen Hall,
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Tickets on sale now. Visit
http://www.jpf.org.au
Hi Infuzion,
I’ve been searching for the Passions CD for a while but I can’t seem to get it.
Would you be willing to sell that CD ?
Thanks,
flubear
Greetings flubear! I suspect that my cd is buried in a box somewhere in Sydney. I’ve been in Toronto for over 2 years now so even if I wanted to send it to you I won’t be able to do so until I’m back in Sydney and I go searching for it. If you want to remind me around september (I plan to go back for a visit then) I’ll have a look for you.