Friday, 21 May 2021, Part 2 – Last night I listened to the concert by the New Japan Philharmonic

This is the second part of today’s diary.

There is no lockdown in Japan. Even though the infection caused by the variant virus is spreading, concerts in the concert halls with audiences are now allowed in Tokyo. Some restrictions are still there in concerts. In Osaka, concerts must be held with no audience.

Until yesterady, I had stopped to visit Suntory Hall completely due to Corona pandemic. According to my records, the last time I listened a concert in this hall, was on 28 May 2019.
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(I had to cut this part off from my post to Instagram because of the limited number of characters.
—– It was a great concert of my favourite orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig). At that time, Andris Nelsons conducted and Baiba Skride played the violin.—–
To this point, here is the part I have to cut.)

I used to go this hall almost every week to listen to concerts, but after I missed some chance to go there again in 2019, the Corona pandemic came, and all the concerts I had planned to listen to at there in 2020 were cancelled.

Last night I listened to the concert by the New Japan Philharmonic. Its original conductor, Antoni Wit, had to cancel his Japan tour due to the Corona pandemic. He was replaced by the wonderful Japanese conductor Kazuyosi Akiyama. It was a luxury concert with 2 wonderful pianists, Kei Itoh (now she is the greatest pianist in Japan, I think) and the younger Yu Kosuge. They gave a beautiful and charming performance of Mozart’s Concerto for 2 Pianos. The conversation on music between those 2 pianists was very attractive. The sound of the orchestra was delicate and elegant.

The second part of the concert was Richard Strauss’s spectacular Alpine Symphony. It’s a miracle that such a large orchestral work was performed at this time of the pandemic. The number of audience was limited to prevent infection. The audience stood and applaused enthusiastically for a splendid performance. Shouting ‘bravo’ is now not allowed at concerts for infection prevention reasons. It sounds like a joke. But it’s true.

Good night. Have a nice dream.

Wear a mask and wash your hands.
Stay safe and healthy 😊😷🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖
21 May 2021 #tokyo #japan

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