Theaters in Nagoya were aghast when Yoko Matsuo came calling. Even though she was born in the city and is conductor and director of the Aichi Prefecture Symphony Orchestra, her plan to stage Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" in the style of Japan's most revered and challenging dramatic form, noh, created outrage. Luckily, the last organization she approached -- a brand-new noh theater with a management open to ideas -- was excited by the project.

The result is that Matsuo's interesting -- but, as even she recognizes, oddball -- creation will be Nagoya Noh Gakudo's opening production, running four days from June 27. Because the characters have to sing, masks are out. And when asked how she will handle the slow movements of those onstage with the fast passages of music, she admitted that really, until she brought all the elements together onstage, she had absolutely no idea.

"There are many problems," she acknowledged, "like where do we put the orchestra." (Noh theaters have seats ranked to the front of the stage.) "The only space is at the sides, traditionally filled with rakes, sand and stones, so I'm planning to erect platforms over the top. Where will I be? In the center front row, wearing purple 'hakama,' sitting down."

A conductor sitting down?

She grinned broadly at my astonishment. Apparently this is not as rare as might be believed: Conductors often sit down. They are also quite often female. Which comes as an even greater -- but very welcome -- surprise. Because I personally have never seen one in action, in the flesh or otherwise, and certainly never met one before. A professional female conductor, that is.

Her promotional pictures tell a dramatic story: big hair, big frock, big gestures. Yet the character I met was tiny, brisk, dressed in shades of peppermint green, with a string of large-cut square stones around her neck that, if the real thing, meant she was worth more than her weight in diamonds.

Apart from being weighed down by a briefcase (she was carrying a working score of "Don Giovanni" marked with various colored pencils in enigmatic codelike scrawls), she could pass for any businesslike but self-effacing Japanese woman in her early middle years. But her easy smile and relaxed persona give the game away. Matsuo is a woman of the world.

In 1982 Matsuo became the first female conductor to win first prize in the Concours International de Jeunes Chefs d'Orchestre in Besancon, France. Also it was only the second time a Japanese conductor had won this most prestigious award in the world of professional conducting -- after Seiji Ozawa, in 1959. "I seem to remember one Japanese woman conductor from his generation. Now there are several."

Interestingly, her parents were not musical at all. And it is quite possible that recognition of her talent hinges on the fact that in the 1950s, the great bourgeois status symbol was to own an upright piano." Though she learned to play from an early age, and went on to study musicology at Ochanomizu University, she never thought to wave a baton professionally. It was conducting a Ravel opera for the first time, as part of postgraduate studies, that made her realize this was what she most wanted to do.

She met no resistance. "When I went to Kobayashi-sensei's office (Kenichiro Kobayashi, her tutor at Geidai, the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in Ueno) and asked to learn, he agreed without hesitation or surprise." It was to be the beginning of a decade of serious study. She made her debut two years after entering postgraduate studies at Geidai. She first conducted a professional orchestra three years later, in Gunma Prefecture. "It was a popular program for school students, to encourage an interest in classical music."

If she loves any country's music ahead of the rest, her heart is in France. "Ravel, Debussy -- I love them all. French compositions are so bright and light and clear." Having studied French for seven years (during several of which she lived in Paris), she is near fluent. She is also an authority on French music: "It's my forte, strength. A popular French song, 'Ma Cherie, Ma Cherie . . .' inspired my interest. I just loved it."

She claims to have always been a laid-back kind of person, enjoying the environment of speaking other languages. A great Europhile, she has conducted in Belgium, France and Germany. But has never worked in the Americas or anywhere else. The truth is that, though she likes going abroad, her main ambitions lie here. "I'm not an internationalist like Ozawa. What excites me personally is promoting and developing classical music for Japanese in Japan."

She was elected primary guest conductor of the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra in 1998, and then promoted last year. "We do five dozen concerts a year in Nagoya." She has been adviser since 1990 to the symphony orchestra of Tokyo's Nerima Ward, where she lives with her parents. Her bread and butter comes from lecturing at Geidai. "I began in 1982, and currently teach two classes three days a week. I also teach special conducting classes and opera classes."

Opera has always been a great love. Between 1992 and 1996 she conducted many of the well-knowns, such as "Aida," "La Traviata" and "Carmen." In fact, she will be conducting "Aida" in Tokyo on June 25 in Kyoi Hall.

Although she has experience of heavier works, she prefers to keep on the light side. "I can conduct anything, but if I'm not on top of a piece I can't bring a personal interpretation. Others do Beethoven better."

"Don Giovanni" light?

"Well," she noted, "Mozart wrote the piece as an Italian comedy, not tragedy. So I don't think of it as heavy."

While booked to conduct in France next year, her energy is focused on developing the scene here. Hence the blending of opera with noh, just one of many experiments she has in mind. "I like movement, doing lots of different things. I don't want to get into a routine. I like to produce as well as conduct. This is where I'm different, a kind of Japanese Diaghilev (the great experimental ballet director)" in the classical music arena.

She regards her strength as choosing not to force her style onto an orchestra, but rather drawing out its potential. Asked whether she has any weaknesses, she at first said no, but then thought more deeply. "Maybe I tend to listen too much to different opinions about how things should be done. Also I'm not good at delegating. Everything gets done, but I could be easier on myself. I draw my strength from a strong sense of duty. Whatever I take on, I give it 100 percent. I don't like things half-baked, which can be a drawback."

She may yet get married. Her sister, who also showed a musical talent, is settled now with children. Since the house she shares with her parents is small, she finds relief and relaxation at a larger place out near Lake Tama, north of Tachikawa, which she bought 10 years ago. She goes once a month, largely to practice on the grand piano and whip up some great meals for family and friends. "What do I cook? Anything, everything. . . . I love cooking."

She also likes to travel, and is already planning her next major trip in October. The plan is to wander the route of the old castle towns that runs south from Frankfurt, known as the Romantische Strasse.

But between then and now she has other tasks in hand. Her next appointment was in Shinjuku, where she was due to conduct the first rehearsal of the Kagurazaka Chorus Group. ("Kagura" describes a dance at a shrine, hence a slope on which to entertain the gods.) It seems that when a bunch of women (including many a famous name!) gathered to create KCG, and wondered who to ask to whip them into shape, one admitted to knowing Yoko Matsuo really rather well. "Matsuo Yoko?" they screamed. "Sugoi!" (Great!)

Their excitement was so extreme that really she feels quite embarrassed. She says she can't relate to such a reaction, which in Japan is quite something. It is easy for the famous to lose their heads, and her own is so very firmly screwed on. Which is why she can handle a chorus aglitter with the real thing while knowing the stones around her own neck are plain common-sensical glass.