Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, Steven Spielberg and John Williams: Some of the greatest filmmakers have cultivated enduring, mutually enriching relationships with musicians. The decadeslong partnership between Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and composer, pianist and conductor Joe Hisaishi certainly belongs in this hall of fame.
Hisaishi first worked with Miyazaki on the eco-minded science-fiction feature "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind,” released in 1984. He has scored every Miyazaki feature since then, composing wonderfully evocative soundtracks for such favorites as the family fable "My Neighbor Totoro” (1988); the tale of young-girl independence "Kiki’s Delivery Service” (1989); the period epic "Princess Mononoke” (1997); and the Academy Award-winning "Spirited Away” (2002), a gem about a headstrong little girl that was the runner-up on The New York Times’ list of the 25 best films of the 21st century so far.
Longtime fans and newcomers alike were able to hear excerpts from those scores and more when Hisaishi, 71, led the American Symphony Orchestra in "Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki,” a series of concerts at Radio City Music Hall that took place this month. (The performers also included the MasterVoices choir and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, as well as singers Amanda Achen and Mai Fujisawa, who is Hisaishi’s daughter.)