Mishima Concerto

The work is based on Glass’s original score for Paul Schrader’s 1985 film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, which tells the story of one of Japan’s most significant writers, Yukio Mishima (1925–1970). Although Glass’s music is not traditionally Japanese, its minimalist expression powerfully enhances the themes of Mishima’s literary aesthetics, which explore the contrasting union of timeless artistic concepts such as beauty and death, as well as Mishima’s deep fascination with samurai philosophy. The Mishima Concerto, arranged by Michael Riesman, will be performed in Bratislava by the exceptional Japanese pianist Maki Namekawa, to whom Glass dedicated the work.

“While preparing for the premiere of the Mishima Concerto, Philip told me that, during the composition of the original film score, he had been scouring the available literature and biographies of Yukio Mishima. As an excellent observer of people, Philip’s insights are always tantalizingly on point. He expresses his views in a few simple sentences, and only on matters of substance, without emotion — and rarely with negative thoughts. The music he wrote for Mishima reflects this aspect of his personality. Rather than accompanying or describing the film’s action, the music functions as a kind of reflection of what Philip understands about the character of Yukio Mishima, his innermost thoughts, and the anguish at the end of a period in his life. The final piece of the original Mishima soundtrack, titled Closing, seems to tell us that the end of this life is the beginning of the next one, not the sorrow of coming to an end, but the conviction that things will always go on. Philip Glass’s music confirms this conviction,” explained Maki Namekawa.

The Brno Philharmonic, under the baton of its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies, will also present the only symphony by Austro-American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold—himself a native of Brno—the monumental Symphony in F-sharp, Op. 40. “Philip Glass and Erich Korngold—two composers separated by more than a generation, yet joined by a common love for, and deep understanding of the worlds of theater and opera. Each found a way to use the financial and technical rewards and resources of Hollywood to enhance his own work, without in any way sacrificing artistic integrity. Korngold’s complex and masterful Symphony was meant to be used as a calling card, announcing his re-entry upon the European concert and theatrical stage after years in exile, in flight of the Nazi terror—a personally dramatic gesture which initially was an almost complete failure. Only recently has this wonderful music gained a hard-won acceptance within the concert repertoire,”said Dennis Russell Davies. The Brno Philharmonic under his baton last appeared at the Viva Musica! festival in 2022, performing alongside the legendary Laurie Anderson.