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Sebastien Vallee and I will perform all French program including Faure, Franck, Gounod, Hahn, St. Saens, Debussy, and many others. French is Sebastien’s native language, and it is so beautiful to hear his French. The program is divided into several sets, Seasons of Life, Farewells, The Mystery of Death, Dreams of Love, and Galant Love. […]

This movie was nominated for The Best Foreign Film at Oscar this year. “Wild Tales” depicts an extreme-ness in our lives. We experience some parts of tales in this movie, but seldom go that extreme. It is a super comedy. The reality suddenly turns into the unreal. It is funny and scary. The director is […]

Sir Schiff chose to perform the late sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert. I just performed all Schubert program a night before this concert, and I was in a perfect mood. The first piece was Mozart sonata in B-flat major, K. 570. As a good piano student (!), I played this one when I was […]

新聞連載を、加筆して刊行された、超大作。いろいろな時事問題が織り込まれ、思わず惹きこまれてしまう。もちろん、宮部さんの類まれな才能、洞察力、深い勉強に支えられている事は、言うまでもない。裁判所の競売に絡まる問題がメインになっているのだが、現在に生きる一筋縄ではいかない家族性、男女関係など、ミステリーを基本にしながら、深く切り込んでいる。私自身も、昨年3回目の家を購入したので、この辺のことは多少勉強し（もちろん日米の違いはあるが）、問題点など大いに共感した。子供の切なる声から、高齢の方々の老後の過ごし方まで、言ってみれば、すべての人に関わる問題が、一冊にまとまっていると言っても、過言ではないと思う。必読の長編一冊である。

I was very lucky to attend the dress rehearsal of “Alice in Wonderland”, a new production on Ursuk Chin’s composition/Librettist David Henry Hwang, a West Coast premier. Susanna Malkki is a conductor, and she does an amazing work. For her innovative multimedia event, director/designer/video artist Netia Jones has created “Alice in Wonderland” into a glittering, crazed […]

I went to see LA opera: The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano and William M. Hoffman on Wednesday February 18, and it was just great! The story is very silly and non-sense, but it is so fun. And I was so impressed by the staging. It is so colorful and imaginative. I am sure […]

新聞連載小説に加筆修正された、長編小説。はっきり言って、とてもおもしろかった。江戸時代最後の将軍になった徳川慶喜に嫁いだ公家の姫、美賀子。徳川幕府が崩壊し、明治維新が始まった時代の今まであまり触れられることのなかった歴史に焦点を当てた小説。女性の視点から書かれ、世俗から離れた公家の姫が、「普通」の人になっていく姿を描く。もちろん、どんなことも、焦点の持って行き方によって、話の展開は大きく変わる訳で（離婚協議が良い例）、これが、男目線で、慶喜から見た美賀子を描いたら、また、それも面白いかも。明治維新の歴史について、新しいことを学んだ気がする。

I went to listen Martha Argerich’s Schumann concerto at the dress rehearsal on Thursday. She is a legendary pianist, and it is so exciting to hear her in live. She is one of the best virtuoso pianists in the recent years, and is as strong as ever (I think she is 73!). She is so imaginative and expressive. […]

これは、とても美しい短編集。東京の片隅で繰り広げられる愛の物語。それぞれにどこにでもいそうな主人公が出てきて、どこにでもいそうな誰かに関わる。心の襞に触れる、魂と魂の語らい、そして、別れ。読んでいると、時に自然に涙がこぼれてしまう。特別な気持ちに沈んでいく、小池真理子の恋愛ジャーニ―集。

It was my first experience to see “Opera in Theatre”, and I am pretty impressed by the high quality of the show. The production and the cast is a “Dream Team”. The film is from Wiener Staatoper, Zubin Mehta, a conductor, Nina Stemme, a soprano who portrays Leonora passionately and strongly, Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro […]