Kurashiki: Spring is Mozart

Spring dawn. I hear Mozart through the mist. Dazzling bright light and hazy mountains in purple shadows. From my house the forest grows, greener day by day.

Every year, I gave a series of concerts of Mozart's violin sonatas with Ms.Momo Kodama. Last year, The Mozart Year, the series was completed.

Mr Hirasa, a distinct manager, conceived and developed the idea into a splendid success. I was doubtful at the beginning, but now I have become a fan of Mozart's violin sonatas. I was first concerned whether I could fully express myself, because these Sonatas emphasize the piano part to the extent that they are called piano solos accompanied by violin. But as I practiced every year, I realized that these sonatas were full of fantasy and musical ideas. Together with Ms Kodama's superb piano sound, I started feeling that the "spring is Mozart", with a curtain of mist, the trees turning green, and everything alive turning to its "program" of stirring and activity.

Every year, we performed in Philia Hall in Aobadai, Nagoya Runde (now closed), and Asahi Hamarikyu Hall (Tokyo). From the second year of this series we started performing at Kurashiki Concert. There are many familiar faces at Kurashiki Concert.I, Ohara Kenichiro, Ohara Reiko, and many others.

I had thought this year I could not come to Kurashiki, but I was involved in the event called "Hagimoto dream concert", and have come to Kurashiki again with my friends. This time, I am with Phillippe Graffin, a violinist and a friend of mine, Miyata Dai, a young cellist, and Imai Nobuko, with whom I played together after a long interval.

Some have jet lag, so I practiced with Ms.Kodama first. Mozart K. 454. Every time I play this piece, I find something new. Ms.Kodama says the same. In this piece, there is the beauty of melody, subtle changes, a fright as if I look in the abyss, and sudden changes to the world of laughter. Among composers, there is no one else who makes me feel that life is entangled with death in such a subtle way.

There is always something elegant about Kurashiki Concert, which is held in a place surrounded by masterpieces of art. The place certainly gives me inspiration, and also gives me relief and a sense of comfort, which good arts generally offer.
There is quietness and imagination, which only real things, that don't require pretention,posses. I enjoy the moment when I return to myself in this concert.

The streets and houses of Kurashiki are wonderful. A small window of in the Museum Director's office, which we use as an a dressing room, overlooks superb scenery.　It is so soothing just to look over the town, with the tiled roofs lit, by the sinking sun. It must be mentioned that people in the town are courteous. I realize that when I come here every year, some part of me is purified.

Living in a foreign country, some of your energy is absorbed, without you knowing it. My Dutch teacher tells me, "Return to your country to fill your tank!". She is Dutch. She says that, even though Belgium and Holland are so close as can be, it is the same with her.

This time, I enjoyed Japanese spring to the full, though my schedule was very tight.
I have taken on plenty of energy.