Joe Hisaishi - Symphony No. 2; Viola Saga

Information

Composer: Joe Hisaishi

1. Symphony No. 2: I. What the World Is Now?
2. Symphony No. 2: II. Variation 14
3. Symphony No. 2: III. Nursery Rhyme
4. Viola Saga: Movement 1
5. Viola Saga: Movement 2

Antoine Tamestit, viola

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Joe Hisaishi, conductor

Date: 2024

Label: Universal Music

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/joe-hisaishi-in-vienna-13386

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Review

Joe Hisaishi is one of those composers whom listeners have probably heard, even if they don't know they've heard him. He is one of Japan's leading film composers, having written the scores to all but one of Hayao Miyazaki's films (to date). Joe Hisaishi is a stage name taken as a tribute to Quincy Jones, and indeed, part of the charm of his soundtrack music is its artful blend of Japanese and Western influences. Unlike John Williams, he has written little abstract concert music, but that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic when concerts and commissions dried up. Hisaishi welcomed the chance to focus on larger projects, and the result was the pair of works recorded here, with Hisaishi himself conducting the Wiener Symphoniker. The Symphony No. 2 is particularly interesting in its mix of influences, ranging from Mahler to minimalism, with a Japanese flavor that ranges from obvious (in the children's song quoted in the final movement, "Nursery Rhyme") to subtle. The Viola Saga is a more straightforward viola concerto. Both works are highly listenable, and the Wiener Symphoniker plays with an enthusiasm that bespeaks having discovered something new. The album made classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2024.

-- James Manheim

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Joe Hisaishi (Mamoru Fujisawa, born 6 December 1950 in Nagano) is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist. He has written the music for over 100 films and has won 7 Japanese Academy Awards for Best Music. His credits include 12 enchanting animated Studio Ghibli films, including Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winners Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron. Hisaishi has won numerous awards, including seven Japanese Academy Awards for Best Music. In recent years, he works as a classical music conductor and also composed new works (Symphonies and Concertos) in a contemporary music style.

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