Special cellist
joins Symphony
Acclaimed cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, recipient of the Suntory Award and Japanese National Academy of Arts prize, joins the Honolulu Symphony this weekend in a celebration of great works for the cello, including Bruch's "Kol Nidrei" and Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme."
With these two contrasting works, "Tsutsumi will demonstrate his boundless virtuosity and emotional range," said Samuel Wong, the symphony's music director. "This poet of the cello will delve into the mysticism of 'Kol Nidrei' and the emancipating joy of the 'Rococo Variations.' "
PHOTO COURTESY OF HONOLULU SYMPHONY
In 1880, composer Max Bruch traveled from Germany to England to serve as the director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society. Bruch's friendship with members of Liverpool's Jewish community resulted in this setting of the ancient Hebrew chant, the "Kol Nidrei," for cello and orchestra.
"Kol Nidrei," which means "all my vows," begins the prayer that, since the eighth century, has been sung on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The success of this work led to the belief that Bruch was Jewish, though he was not. The work became an embarrassment to the cultural authorities of Nazi Germany who were charged with maintaining the "Aryan purity" of the country's music.
In Tchaikovsky's lifetime, the term "rococo" was often applied to anything ornately decorated or old-fashioned, but he did intend the adjective to be restricted to a particular mid-18th-century style of art, architecture and music. The variations, instead, were intended to be a tribute to the spirit of Mozart, Tchaikovsky's favorite composer. The rococo theme is an example of how Tchaikovsky saw or heard the past filtered through his Russian and Romantic sensibilities.
BORN IN Tokyo, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi studied at an early age with Hideo Saito, Japan's great master teacher and founder of the Toho Conservatory. Tsutsumi made his debut with the Tokyo Philharmonic at age 12.
At 18, Tsutsumi went on his first international tour as a soloist with the NHK Symphony Orchestra to India, Russia and Europe. A Fulbright Foundation grant brought him to the United States to study at Indiana University.
Tsutsumi has appeared with the New Japan Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, in London and Paris with the Tokyo Philharmonic and in Avery Fisher Hall with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, as well as other international orchestras.
He also appeared with Seiji Ozawa and the Toho Gakuen Orchestra at the United Nations in an internationally televised concert.
He recently recorded the Haydn C and D Major Concerti with the English Chamber Orchestra for the Sony Classics label, performed at the Bratislava Festival, toured with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig and the Austrian Broadcasting Symphony, and appeared with the Academy of Santa Cecilia under the baton of the late conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli.
When not performing, the cellist works with tomorrow's musicians as a professor of music at Indiana University.
Cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi
with The Honolulu Symphony, Samuel Wong conductorWhere: Blaisdell Concert Hall
When: 8 p.m. today and 4 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $16, $28, $33, $44 and $59
Call: 792-2000
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