Japan Czech Inspiration Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra & Chuhei Iwasaki

• Akira Ifukube (1914 - 2006): Japanese Suite for Orchestra:
• 1 Ifukube: Japanese Suite for Orchestra: I. Bon-odori 03:56
• 2 Ifukube: Japanese Suite for Orchestra: II. Tanabata 04:27
• 3 Ifukube: Japanese Suite for Orchestra: III. Nagashi 04:15
• 4 Ifukube: Japanese Suite for Orchestra: IV. Nebuta 05:59
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928): Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7:
• 5 Janáček: Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7: No. 1, Kožich 03:06
• 6 Janáček: Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7: No. 2, Kalamajka 01:00
• 7 Janáček: Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7: No. 3, Trojky 01:24
• 8 Janáček: Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7: No. 4, Silnice 01:25
• 9 Janáček: Moravian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/7: No. 5, Rožek 01:46
• Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17:
• 10 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 1, Starodávný I 06:48
• 11 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 2, Požehnaný 02:27
• 12 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 3, Dymák 02:20
• 13 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 4, Starodávný II 05:28
• 14 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 5, Čeladenský 01:54
• 15 Janáček: Lachian Dances for Orchestra, JW VI/17: No. 6, Pilky 03:14
• Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3, JW VI/6:
• 16 Janáček: Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3, JW VI/6: I. Con moto 03:00
• 17 Janáček: Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3, JW VI/6: II. Adagio 06:22
• 18 Janáček: Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3, JW VI/6: III. Allegretto 02:47
• 19 Janáček: Suite for Orchestra, Op. 3, JW VI/6: IV. Con moto 02:32
• Total Runtime 01:04:10

Info for Japan Czech Inspiration

This new recording from the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Chuhei Iwasaki, explores the links found between the music of Czech composer Leos Janacek, and Japanese composer Akira Ifukube.

"Folk song! I have lived in the heart of it ever since my childhood. A folk melody contains the whole of man his body, his soul, his environment, everything about him. He who is brought up on national music is growing up to become a complete human being. A folk song has one spirit, because it has within it a genuine human whose culture has been endowed by God, and not acquired from without."

With this emotional and utterly honest statement, Leos Janacek (1854-1928) summed up his lifelong fascination with folk song during a stay in London in 1926. Folk music was an important creative inspiration for the artists of the 19th and 20th centuries and was often associated with pride and nationalism. For Janacek, folklore was undoubtedly one of the essential resources of his work as a composer, which is reflected in the three orchestral works recorded here.

The same may be said for Akira Ifukube (1914-2006), one of the greatest composers of the contemporary music scene of his native country, who gave Western listeners an insight into Japanese musical culture. His own compositional style was strongly influenced by folkloric traditions, above all by the dance performances of the Ainu people, the indigenous inhabitants of the island of Hokkaido, which he often heard in his childhood. The world of traditional Japanese music is often distant to European audiences despite their genuine efforts to understand it. Ifukube's musical language catches the attention of listeners with its use of Japanese traditional modes and its renunciation of certain methods of European music, including triadic chords and repetitions of thematic material.

"In 1935, the Japanese composer Akira Ifukube (1914 -2006) won first prize in a competition organized by Alexander Tchereponin, whose jury included Albert Roussel, Jacques Ibert, Arthur Honegger and Alexandre Tansman. The piece was called Japanese Rhapsody. Previously, Ifukube had written a Piano Suite that also drew on Japanese traditions and Japanese folk music. He orchestrated it relatively late, in 1991, and that version is to be heard here. It is a very attractive, expressive piece, presented by Chuhei Iwasaki with the Pilsen Philharmonic in a profound, exciting interpretation.

The work is on the same level as the folk music-based works by Leos Janacek performed after it. The Lachian and Moravian Dances and Suite No. 3 are also quite splendidly done: They are performed with great enthusiasm and a strong ambience. Iwasaki and his musicians put themselves fully at the service of the music." (Remy Franck, pizzicato.lu)

Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra
Chuhei Iwasaki, conductor

Chuhei Iwasaki
conductor, composer has been attracting attention for his ability to lead symphonic, operatic and choral repertoires with poise, positioning himself as one of the most versatile young conductors.

He was appointed as the new chief conductor of the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic, an orchestra with an almost 100 year of musical tradition from the season 2021/2022.

In recent seasons Chuhei Iwasaki has collaborated with orchestras such as: the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, Brno Philharmonic, Slovak State Philharmonic Kosice, Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra, Hyogo PAC Orchestra and others. Next season, he will make his debut with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Teplice, Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Lodz and F.X.Šaldy Theatre in Liberec.

Active as both an orchestra and opera conductor, Chuhei Iwasaki has conducted W. A.Mozart: Magic flute, Idomeneo, B. Smetana: Libuše, A .Dvořák: Rusalka , A. Glazunov: Ballet Manon, B. Britten: Opera ‘The little sweep’, C.M.v.Weber 'Der Freischütz' and others.

Chuhei Iwasaki has appeared as a guest conductor at significant Czech festivals such as: the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Smetana´s Litomyšl, Smetana Days in Pilsen, and at the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival.

Chuhei Iwasaki was born in Tokyo. He studied violin at the Toho Gakuen High School of Music. He continued to study the violin, and composing and then conducting at the Prague Conservatory　and at The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. From 2016 Chuhei Iwasaki is a professor-conductor of the Prague Conservatory's String Orchestra.

This album contains no booklet.