Here are a few impressions of the concert tour to Japan. It starts on Thursday, 3 October and the list of everything that needs to go in the suitcase is long. Hopefully I won’t forget anything.
Already in 2023 I was asked by Yoshimi Ogawa whether I would like to be a guest at the concerts of the PIANO DUO Yoshimi Ogawa and Mika Akamatsu in Japan in October 2024. It was a wonderful offer and I accepted enthusiastically.
In the first part of the concert, pieces from the two Carmen Suites by Georges Bizet were planned and in the second part, works by Astor Piazzolla. All the scores were very virtuosically arranged for two grand pianos and my first task was to write new castanet parts. From the work on pieces from the Carmen Suites, the music book ‘Concert Castanets IV’ was created.
Then it was a matter of studying the new castanet parts and rehearsing by recording them and sending audio recordings back and forth. Mika Akamatsu lives in Japan, Yoshimi Ogawa in southern Germany and I in Berlin. It was hardly possible to rehearse together.
It wasn’t until Easter 2024 that we met for our first joint rehearsals. It was amazing that we were able to play through everything straight away without any problems and only had to make minor adjustments. We understood each other immediately. On Easter Monday, after two intensive days of rehearsals, we gave a very successful dress rehearsal in front of a select audience.
In September we rehearsed again, this time over 3 days, and then on 10 September the German premiere of ‘Carmen & Piazzolla’ took place in Freiburg at the E-Werk with great success. We were satisfied, happy and full of confidence about the ‘Japan adventure’. Only 1 month remained until the premiere in Osaka.
In October, the dream came true: my guest performances in Japan in the concert programme ‘Carmen & Piazzolla’ by the PIANO DUO Yoshimi Ogawa and Mika Akamatsu. The first concert on 10 October in Osaka at the Osaka Fenice Sakay and on 13 October at the Tokyo Opera City Hall. An incredible experience! Wonderful concert halls, very competent, attentive and friendly support, fantastic acoustics. It was a pleasure! And to stand and play the castanets in front of two excellent concert pianists on two Steinway grand pianos was priceless!
Many concert visitors were not yet familiar with castanets as a concert instrument, and the enthusiasm was great. My husband, who had often performed with the opera in Japan, told me not to be surprised, but in Japan there was only discreet applause, even if the concert was well received. But we had bravos at both concerts and had to give two encores each. And after the concerts we were expected in the foyer for lots of questions, photos and autographs. Overwhelming!
We are still getting enthusiastic feedback.
But it was also a very special programme with elaborate arrangements of the pieces for two grand pianos:
In the first part, first a majestic Gavotte with Variations by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), then 10 pieces from the Carmen Suites by Georges Bizet. The second part began with my solo for concert castanets ‘Wooden Sound’, followed by wonderful arrangements of various tangos by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). I also wrote and played castanet parts for Libertango and Escualo.
It was an overwhelming experience and
another highlight in my life as a
castanet player and flamenca.
