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April 30, 2024
 

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Robert Ryker
For Robert Ryker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2000
Bach Collegium Japan fetes anniversary year with passion
Bach Collegium Japan: July 28, Masaaki Suzuki conducting in Suntory Hall -- "Saint John Passion," BWV 245 (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750) featuring Gerd Tyrk, Stephan MacLeod, Chiyuki Urano, Midori Suzuki and Robin Blaze
CULTURE / Music
Jul 30, 2000
Music for repressed romantics
Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku Opera
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2000
Bernstein lives on in sounds of summer
In the nether regions near the waterfront wherein lie most of the nation's major cosmopolitan areas, Japan's tropical sun and heavy humidity militate against the kind of lighthearted family outdoor concerts which find so much favor in Europe and America. Nevertheless, summer is here again, and here again too are the special delights of the summer season.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2000
Berlin Phil brings greetings: from one capital to another
Political and economic capital of Germany and home of the famed Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin is high on the list of cities Tokyoites most wish to visit and explore, as I did recently. Berlin and Tokyo have much in common, certainly including the quantity and quality of the musical scene.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 2, 2000
High art from cold metal: Brass music matures at last
There is something powerfully appealing about an ensemble of brass players. Brilliant trumpets and trombones, mellow horns and tubas -- when they are beautifully played, the sound, the strength and the artistry of the playing is quite compelling.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 11, 2000
High jinks dropped as orchestra grows up
Budapesti Festivali Zenekara May 31, Ivan Fischer conducting in Suntory Hall -- Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a (Johannes Brahms, 1833-97), Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 (Bela Bartok, 1881-1945) and "Zigeunerweisen" for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 20 (Pablo Martin Militon de Sarasate y Navascuez, 1844-1908), featuring Akiko Suwanai; Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 (Brahms)
CULTURE / Music
Jun 4, 2000
Vibrating quite a lot of wind
When we hear a musical ensemble playing with a lush sonority, exemplary balance and a pleasing tonal blend, a common comment is that it "sounds just like an organ."
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2000
Gergiev faultily great with the Rotterdam Phil
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
CULTURE / Music
May 21, 2000
Desperately seeking maestro for a long-term relationship
Tokyo-to Kokyo Gakudan
CULTURE / Music
May 14, 2000
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony
Yomiuri Nippon Kokyo Gakudan
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2000
Japanese chamber orchestras strive for musical excellence
The Berlin Philharmonic, one of the world's great orchestras, operates under an enlightened artistic philosophy. Its large roster and the redundancy of players in every section save one (tuba) allows for rotation among the players between pieces and performances. The free time in their schedules allows players to form ensembles among themselves to perform chamber music.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 16, 2000
When is a concert not a concert?
Many concert programs follow the standard format familiar to concertgoers everywhere: overture, concerto, intermission, symphony. It's not the only way to arrange a program, but it's the commonest.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2000
Conductors introduce some new stars
It is fair to assume that anyone reading this column is a music lover of some degree. Take a moment to reflect, though, that there was a time in your life when you had never heard a note of music. What was it that inveigled your innocent ear? When was it? Where were you? Who introduced you?
CULTURE / Music
Apr 2, 2000
IPO's Tokyo performance unforgettable and provocative
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Feb. 23, Zubin Mehta conducting in Suntory Hall -- Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827); Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major "Romantic" (Josef Anton Bruckner, 1824-96)
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2000
Music with the romantic touch
Each year, the City of Tokyo invites the Japan Federation of Musicians to organize a 10-week festival of concerts, opera, ballet, popular and traditional music -- the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival. It presents all the city's major performing companies, including concerts by each of the city's nine symphony orchestras.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2000
Royal Concertgebouw does its own thing, which is anything
The orchestras of America are headed by the "Big Five," after which come all the others. They are so well known that just the names of the cities get a nod of affirmation: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2000
NHK Symphony Orchestra performs American classics
The world of music is global indeed. Great musicians have originated from a bewildering array of places, studied far from home and made their careers around the world. The United States of America can claim its share of eminent instrumentalists and singers, giving birth to some, training others and nurturing the careers of still others.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 5, 2000
Dynamo Chung generates musical electricity with French National
Orchestre National de France
CULTURE / Music
Feb 27, 2000
The Saito Kinen Orchestra: putting Japan's best on stage
Saito Kinen Orchestra
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2000
Great compositions ennoble performers, audience alike
Virtually all of Japan's symphony orchestras perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth and last symphony at the end of the year, as the general populace makes its annual affirmation of the noble qualities declaimed in the lyrics of the choral finale, Friedlich von Schiller's "An die Freude (Ode to Joy)." Japanese orchestras have long thrived under the tradi- tion of these yearend concerts, and orchestras from abroad are likewise sensitive to the advantages of presenting this work on tour in this country.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

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