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2020.12. 3

Message from Mr. Gerhard Oppitz , piano, appearing in our 633rd Subscription scheduled on December 4 and 5

12月4・5日第633回定期演奏会 ゲルハルト・オピッツ(ピアノ)メッセージ 12月4・5日第633回定期演奏会 ゲルハルト・オピッツ(ピアノ)メッセージ
Message from Mr. Gerhard Oppitz , piano, appearing in our 633rd Subscription scheduled on December 4 and 5
Message from Mr. Gerhard Oppitz , piano, appearing in our 633rd Subscription scheduled on December 4 and 5

Following is the message that we received from Mr. Gerhard Oppitz, piano, appearing in our 633rd Subscription scheduled on December 4 and 5 at Sapporo Cultural Arts Theater hitaru.

 

 

『Dear music lovers in Hokkaido,』

It will be a pleasure and a privilege for me to have the opportunity to return to Sapporo, continuing my artistic cooperation with the excellent Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, and meeting again with Maestro Hirokami with whom I have already played several memorable performances in the 1990s.

I am very glad to spend again several weeks in Japan, and I am grateful to the Japanese government authorities for providing a visa for me, considering the fact that during the last weeks and months very few visitors from abroad in general and very few foreign artists in particular have been allowed to enter the country. Since March of this year it has always been my wish to keep the chances for musical performances alive, and to take advantage of all possibilities to reanimate our musical life as we were used to it for years and decades.

So I agreed to all official requirements which were connected to the process of receiving a visa, including a quarantine period of two weeks after my arrival. I had to skip the first three of 15 initially planned performances, and since ten days I am about to travel between various destinations for the remaining concert dates.

The piano concerto Nö.1 by Brahms which we are going to perform this week is a marvelous milestone in music history that is reaching out to everybody who is sensitive to the divine language of music. In the context of the movements 1 and 3 of this concerto which are marked by dramatic contrasts and romantic lyricism, the second movement has the character of a prayer - an absolutely precious jewel. Johannes Brahms was one of the genial giants, and he was dedicated to continue the legacy of Beethoven.

His 1st piano concerto has been a wonderful source of inspiration for me since fifty years, having had the chance to perform it about 200 times - and now I am looking forward very much to play it for the first time in Sapporo. Remembering all my concerto performances with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra since our first common experience in 1987, featuring mainly works by Mozart and Beethoven, I hope that this week's Brahms performances will touch the hearts of our listeners.

Gerhard Oppitz