Another attempt to understand the mysterious Japanese soul

MOSCOW. The Tchaikovsky Conservatory hosts the 18th Soul of Japan Festival.

Acquaintance with the culture of another nation, the desire to learn new things, to comprehend and accept them is the only way to mutual understanding, good neighborliness and the desire to live in peace. That was the main message, the main idea, in addition to purely educational goals, the establishment in 1999 of the festival "Soul of Japan". In 1896, Lafcadio Hearn, an Irish writer and translator in love with Japan, wrote autobiographical notes, Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life, which inspired the founders to choose a symbolic name for the festival.

Shortly before his sudden death, Koizumi Yakumo (the name adopted by Hearn during his life in Japan) realized that his new homeland remained the same mystery to him as at the beginning of his passion for her. The creation of a festival dedicated to Japan is an approximation to the truth, a desire to open new horizons, strengthen mutual understanding.

The 18th season will end on December 23. To date, 3 concerts have passed.

At the opening of the festival on September 7 in the Rachmaninov Hall, classical Japanese hogaku music was played, beautiful, unusual, and difficult to read. The audience was introduced to her by the best performers in this genre, the virtuosos of playing the shamisen (three-stringed plucked instrument) and koto (zither with flyers moved to change settings). On September 24, in the Myaskovsky Hall in the program “Listening to the voice of bamboo”, Kohei Shimizu spoke. The sound of his shakuhachi flute, velvet and deep, is able to convey not only the beauty of the melody performed, but also human emotions, the “voices” of the surrounding nature. On October 3, “Japanese Rhapsody” was sounded in the Rachmaninov Hall, a harmonious mix of national melodies and works by Scriabin.

The concert was attended by a talented young pianist Yoshio Hamano, who studied at the best educational institutions in London, Leipzig, Moscow. His mentors were Elena Ashkenazi, Dmitry Alekseev, Vadim Sakharov. Ahead - new meetings with musicians from the Land of the Rising Sun, familiarity with national traditions and unusual instruments.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru