Kouji Hamano Violin Recital

◆Ballet music is like a jewel box《Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
I think ballet music is like a jewel box of small works. Unlike symphonies, the musical form is simple. I want its easy-to-understand good melodies to be heard deliciously." (-Source: ONTOMO MOOK "The Book to Understand Ballet Music" -)
Hamano, who loves stage music and has been supporting and performing it for many years, says, "In the 19th century, Europe was a place where all kinds of art were performed.
In the 19th century, the Romanticism movement took place in all the arts in Europe. Ballet flourished during this period as romantic ballet and underwent various developments, laying the foundation for the classical ballet as we know it today. Art, the performance of classical music, and cultural soil are closely related.
The Theatre Orchestra Tokyo, where Hamano serves as solo concertmaster, focuses on the performance of theater music, especially ballet music. Many of the so-called "showpieces" of classical ballet have violin solos, which represent the emotions of the main characters. Hamano, who is based in France, where ballet was born and raised, will be stepping out of the orchestra pit to perform "Swan Lake" with great anticipation.
◆The poetic worldview expressed in sound "Chausson: Poem
One of the five works in the program, "Poem" by Chausson (1855-1899) is a poetic work with a mysterious introduction, a meditative first theme, and a passionate second theme. Written for solo violin and orchestra, it is one of Chausson's most famous works. Based on the novel "Love's Triumphant Song" by the Russian writer Turgenev, it was presented as a "poetic piece" with its mystical narrative enhanced. The violin played by Hamano depicts the language of music in the world of ballet without dialogue. Please pay attention to how Hamano, who has given numerous performances in Japan and continues to study in France, will express in music the winds that he hears, sees, and feels on his skin every day.

The program for this year's concert includes works by Schumann, Saint-Saens, Lecoux, and other composers who were all leaders of their times. The Romantic era, born out of literature, was also an era of poetic ballet development. Please enjoy a moment of surrender to romantic and melancholic music filled with quiet love.