In this “Overview” section, I had commented on the activities of every full member of the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras focusing on their subscription concert programs. However, because of the recent revision of the yearbook’s contents following its transition to the online version, I have been tasked to describe my overall impression here instead of covering all the orchestras. Accordingly, I would like to give an overview of the domestic orchestral scene during the fiscal year 2024 (from April 2024 through March 2025) shedding light on some trends seen in the subscription concerts, the core of each orchestra’s activities.
While the orchestras’ more conservative attitude in repertoire since the COVID-19 pandemic has been much pointed out, the subscription concerts of each orchestra during the fiscal year 2024 showed a number of audacious attempts. In particular, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra was among the orchestras that presented many ambitious programs throughout the year. This orchestra offers, in addition to the subscription concerts, some other concert series including the “Popular Series,” which probably makes it easier for them to have venturesome programs at their subscription concerts. The lineup was little short of spectacular, featuring a string of rarely performed pieces such as Berg’s Wozzeck (concert version) and Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, both conducted by Principal Conductor Sebastian Weigle, Messiaen’s L’Ascension conducted by Sylvain Cambreling, Berio’s Sinfonia conducted by Masato Suzuki and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 conducted by Toshiyuki Kamioka. The Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra led by new Music Director Christian Arming, also offered a daring lineup including Martinů’s Symphony No. 6 Fantaisies symphoniques conducted by Arming himself, Atterberg’s Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 5 Sinfonia funebre conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama, the Japanese premiere of Sai’s Symphony No. 5 conducted by Nil Venditti and Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 conducted by Henrik Schaefer. A whole string of such bold programs that might have surprised people with how far a regional orchestra could go, announced the dawn of the new Arming era in an impressive manner.
Many orchestras have devised ways to program their year-round concerts so such ambitious repertoire will be presented, mixing with them relatively popular works that are accessible to a wider audience. Each orchestra’s individuality was reflected in how they built their programs. For example, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra’s entire selection consisted of works from the 20th century onwards except for two Beethoven, two Bruckner pieces as well as one Dvořák piece. In contrast, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra focused on German-Romantic and Nationalist-School works from the late 19th century, adding colors to them with programs such as the one with Kentaro Kawase conducting Ives’s Symphony No. 2 and another one with Michiyoshi Inoue combining Takemitsu, Xenakis and Ravel. The Osaka Symphony Orchestra’s nicely-varied lineup was also noteworthy, as they, besides performing popular masterworks, offered the all-Yuzo-Toyama-program led by Permanent Conductor Kazufumi Yamashita and Verdi’s La forza del destino (concert version) conducted by Music Partner Maiku Shibata.
The NHK Symphony Orchestra provides three different subscription concert series. Thus their high number of concerts enabled them to play multiple pieces including some notable ones, such as Liszt’s Faust Symphony conducted by Chief Conductor Fabio Luisi and Berwald’s Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Honorary Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt. Overall, however, their programs were centered around Romantic and modern pieces. We could say it was somewhat surprising that they performed almost no contemporary works and the only Classical works they programmed were Mozart’s Symphony No. 25, his arias and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
In contrast, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, which also has three subscription concert series, stood out for their extensive repertoire ranging from Classical to contemporary music. While they performed several classics including Schubert’s Unfinished and The Great Symphonies conducted by Honorary Conductor for Life Kazuhiro Koizumi, they also featured a number of works pleasing to the connoisseur audience, such as the Japanese premiere of Widmann’s Horn Concerto (soloist: Stefan Dohr) under the baton of Music Director Kazushi Ono, Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 9 conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 3 under Jakub Hrůša, and a four-movement version of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 under Conductor Laureate Eliahu Inbal. Having two different subscription series, the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa (OEK) also offered many concerts. Taking advantage of the strengths of a chamber orchestra, they performed a varied lineup from Baroque / Classical works (a Handel and Leo program conducted by Enrico Onofri, and a Vaňhal and Mysliveček program conducted / performed by Shunsuke Sato, for example) to 20th-century works including Akira Nishimura’s Birds Heterophony (commissioned by the OEK in 1993) and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, both conducted by Michiyoshi Inoue.
The Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra offered a wide variety of programs throughout the year under the theme of “Joy, Anger, Sorrow and Pleasure,” while the highly unique programming of the Gunma Symphony Orchestra and the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra stood out as well. The six subscription concerts in total of the Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra were interesting in that they contrasted Northern and Southern Europe, with the first three concerts featuring Sibelius symphonies and other works by Nordic composers (all conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama), and the last three concerts featuring Italian works (conducted by Yuko Tanaka) as well as French and Spanish works (conducted by Norichika Iimori). Orchestras such as the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra presented conservative pieces in general, but ingeniously added novel works to them as accents.
The Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra stood out with their stately lineups around standard repertoire. Admittedly, they gave some fresh programs, such as the former’s John Williams concert conducted by Leonard Slatkin and the latter’s concerts featuring works by Unsuk Chin and Dai Fujikura under the baton of Chief Conductor Nodoka Okisawa. Overall, however, their resolved, standard lineups gave a sense of stability and dignity characteristic of long-established orchestras.
Naturally, the individuality and distinctive features of the chiefs are reflected in the year-round programming of orchestras. For instance, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra’s programs centered around Mahler’s and Bruckner’s mighty works conducted by Chief Conductor Kahchun Wong. Similarly, the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra built their programs around Bruckner, Verdi and Shostakovich conducted by Music Director Ryusuke Numajiri, suggesting that his color has established itself. The New Japan Philharmonic continued their “Wien (Vienna) Line” repertoire project on the initiative of Music Director Yutaka Sado during the 2024 fiscal year. The programming of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra took advantage of the difference in repertoire between Principal Conductor Ken Takaseki and Principal Guest Conductor Sachio Fujioka. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, triumviral, so to speak, has three conductors at the core of their year-round programs every year. Especially, their lineup of the 2024 fiscal year attracted much attention with Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie and Verdi’s Macbeth (concert version) under the baton of Honorary Music Director Myung-Whun Chung. Kosuke Tsunoda, who was promoted to Music Director of the Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra, indicated the orchestra’s future orientation by approaching hidden masterpieces such as Walton’s Cello Concerto (soloist: Michiaki Ueno) and Bliss’s A Colour Symphony. Meanwhile, appointed Principal Conductor of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra, Gen Ohta ushered in a new phase of the orchestra by standing out with his venturesome concert featuring Puccini’s Mass for Four Voices in the first half, followed by Noriko Koide’s Hakata Rhapsody and Maki Ishii’s Monoprism in the second half.