Performing with Jean-Marc Luisada

November 30th, 2006 Yamagata Terusa Hall
December 1st, 2006 Toppan Hall

I will be performing with Jean-Marc Luisada, an old friend of mine. The program will be the Violin Sonata B-flat Major by Mozart, kv.454; the Violin Sonata No.2 by Brahms, op.10; and the Violin Sonata No.2 by Prokofiev, op.94A.

We started practicing this summer and have given two concerts in Europe. We have been good friends for the past 25 years. It was in the summer of 1981 when I went to the Marlboro Music festival, a festival for chamber music in the US, for the first time. I felt lost everyday as it was my first time to be in the US and I could not speak or understand the language. One day I met a French nurse, Clara, who had come over from France to take care of Misha Schneider, an excellent cellist, who was ill at the time. "Look, isn't it nice?" said Clara, hanging cherry on her ear. We immediately became friends as neither of us was good at English. That autumn, when I was looking for a place to live in Europe, we became roommates and started to share a flat in a suburb in Paris. She introduced me to her friend Jean-Marc. His hair was cropped short and he wore a pair of glasses which made him look nervous. However I could see a sparkle in his eyes behind his glasses like a naughty child full of curiosity. How charming! It didn't take long until we got to know each other and we often talked late into the night about food, movies that inspired him, and, of course, music.

Later we performed together several times. There was a time when both of us held a concert in Milan on the same day. Ten friends including Clara would drive from Paris via the Alps to the Scala. They would run from one concert hall to another, wearing a piece of black silk that they bought from a whole seller downtown with the name Jean-Marc embroidered on one side and Horigome on the other. Of course, they would change the frock back to front at each hall. It was great fun.

We often perform together these days. I find that our musical aspirations are similar because we are contemporaries. Rehearsing with him is always serious, even if the rehearsal is six months, one month or immediately before a concert. I can always see that he is striving for music. He does not start from a big picture to minute details but concentrates on note by note which eventually lead to a total picture. The tempo is rather slow for me during our performance but when I listen to the recordings, I can see the framework of the piece emerging. Because of his vast knowledge of movies, there seem to be an abundant amount of images and situations in him. We sometimes communicate with each other without talking about music or the sound we should be making. For example, I would say, "just like that scene where she is sad shaking her sleeves during an act in that opera," and he would understand immediately saying "Yes, of course."

We have very opposing personalities. Each performance is exhilarating to me because there are endless possibilities on how our personalities will combine and resonant with each other.

His favorite dog, Bogie, an eight year old Labrador, is always with him. Bogie even travels with him and goes to restaurants with him as well. When he gave a live recital at Radio France, he was the first musician to obtain permission to have his dog in the concert hall. Bogie sat quietly next to the piano chair throughout the recital.

Since dogs cannot travel by air, Bogie stayed in Paris this time. Usually when we perform together, we would show up on stage with me carrying my violin and Jean-Marc with Bogie.

Jean-Marc just sent me a message saying that he is looking forward the concert. I do hope you will enjoy it.