The 657th Subscription Concert 2023.November.11（Sat）17:00～
/ November.12（Sun）13:00～ Sapporo Concert Hall; Kitara

© N.Yamaguchi

Tatsuya Shimono（conductor）

Born in Kagoshima in 1969, Tatsuya Shimono cemented his international reputation as a conductor by winning the First Prize at the 47th Besançon International Competition in 2001. Since then he has regular relationships with a number of international orchestras including Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz and Silicon Valley Symphony, alongside with major Japanese orchestras. In 2006 Shimono was appointed Resident Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and served as their Principal Guest Conductor from 2013 through 2017. In April 2017 he became General Music Director of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra. Shimono is currently also Music Director of the Hiroshima Wind Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his work with symphony orchestras Shimono’s opera conducting has included Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel und Gretel and The Merry Widow at Nikikai Opera, Medea, Lear (both composed by Aribert Reimann) and Hänsel und Gretel at the Nissay Theatre, La Forza del Destino at the Japan Metropolitan Opera and The Silence (Teizo Matsumura) at New National Theatre Tokyo. He has been invited to a plethora of music festivals, including the Affinis Music Festival, the Kirishima International Music Festival, the Miyazaki Music Festival, and the Beppu Argerich Music Festival. He was resident conductor at the 2010 Saito Kinen Festival that included conducting four concerts with the Saito Kinen Orchestra. Following on from this he made his North American debut with the orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Contemporary music forms an important part of Shimono’s career, conducting repertoire across the spectrum including Ades, Cage, Glass, Gruber HK, Adams, Takemitsu and Hosokawa. Tatsuya Shimono’s recordings include Strauss Ein Heldenleben with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Bruckner Symphony in D minor (No. 0) with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. Tatsuya Shimono received numerous awards such as the Idemitsu Music Award, the Akeo Watanabe Music Foundation Award, the Nippon Steel Music Award (New Artist Award), the 6th Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award. He was invited to join the faculty of the Kyoto City University of Arts in April 2017. (from http://www.tatsuyashimono.com/ )

© 井村重人

Kaori Ikeda（mezzo-soprano）

Born in Kanagawa, studied at Denenchofu Futaba Senior High School and graduated Faculty of Law, Keio University, before proceeding her music career. Ikeda completed the Niki-kai Opera Studio and in 1996 changed from soprano to mezzo-soprano. She received the 34th Music Pen Club Music Award in 2021. Her debut was Rosina in “The Barber of Seville,” and she has become highly popular in a trouser role, with her act as Cherubino in “The Marriage of Figaro.“ Ikeda gained her experience by continuously appearing in Niki-Kai performances, starting with “The Magic Flute” (2000), “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,“ the 50th Anniversary of Niki-kai, “Der Rosenkavalier,” a joint production of Niki-kai and Opera Cologne, “Lulu,” 40th Anniversary of Nissay Theatre Special Performance (Three-Act Version Completed by Friedrich Cerha), and The Egyptian Helen (2004). In 2006, Ikeda made New National Theater debut with Minoru Miki’s “Ai-En,” followed by　Kundry in "Parsifal" (Arakawa Bayreuth), the Second Lady in “The Magic Flute” (New National Theatre), Lucia in “Cavalleria Rusticana” (Tokyo Niki-kai 2012), and Brigitta in “Die tote Stadt” (Biwako Hall 2014). Her Isolde in “Tristan and Isolde” which was co-production of Tokyo Niki-kai and Leipzig Theatre (2016) was highly appraised, and she appeared in 2017 NHK New Year Opera Concert and sang Liebestod. Ikeda is now crucial for Wagner works, and has established her position as the Wagner singer by appearing as Isolde in “Tristan and Isolde” (Niki-kai 2016), Second Norn in ”Götterdämmerung,” (New National Theater 2017), and in all the “Biwa Ring” (2017 Erda in “Das Rheingold;” Brunhild in 2018 “Walküre,” 2019 “Siegfried,” and 2020 “Götterdämmerung”). The title role of “Hérodiade” (2019 Tokyo Niki-kai), and Herodias in “Salome” led her to even higher reputation, and as Delilah in “Samson and Delilah” (2021 Tokyo Niki-kai), Ikeda showed her virtuous performance and precise pitch; and by Venus in “Tannhäuser,” her rich singing power was so confirmed. Acting Brunhild in “Die Walküre,” the New National Theater performance, in a short notice proved that she has an ability of stable singing and outstanding acting skills. Ikeda‘s has been featuring with major orchestras; with Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, she was a soloist of Handel’s Messiah for number of times, and toured within Japan in 2007 with P. Schreier Bach “Johannes-Passion” and Mozart Requiem. In 2012, she appeared in Mahler Symphony No. 3 with E. Inbal and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and her appearance as The Pilgrim in Saariaho’s　“L'amour de loin”　(2015 Toyo Opera City Composium – Concert version in French) proved her excellent performance even in the works of contemporaries. Moreover, her Mozart Messiah in C minor, Beethoven Missa solemnis, Mahler Symphony No. 2 and Das Lied von der Erde, and Wagner Wesendonck Lieder were all well received. As for her recording, Ikeda released “Present of Love (AINO OKURIMONO)” from Nami Records as a member of Trio 97 Libestraum in 2011. She is a member of Niki-kai.