Whenever I see an announcement that Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi is coming to Europe, I always check if it is a concert I want to attend. The reason why I am always interested in hearing Hisaishi live is because his music is significant to me, and I am fully convinced Soundtrack World would not have existed without his music. The opening notes from Mononoke Hime are the ones that triggered my first emotional response while listening to film music and have put me on a path to seek out more film music. The announcement of his coming to the Krakow Film Music Festival in 2011 was also the reason for me to start attending this festival, which I have continued to do until this day, and I have made many friends within and outside the film music industry along the way.
I have seen Hisaishi perform quite a few times, and most of his concerts focused on his soundtracks from Ghibli animations and other Japanese movies. As someone who is not into classical music, I did not mind his contemporary music as much when I had heard it at his concert in Paris. When I received the news that Hisaishi would come to the Netherlands for a concert for the first time, even though there was not much film music to be performed, I had to buy the tickets immediately.
I noticed two things when I entered the sold-out concert hall of De Doelen in Rotterdam. The first was that there are apparently seats behind the stage, which I had never noticed before, since there was always a screen in the way during the concerts I attended. The second thing was that it looked like every person from Japan living in the Netherlands had come to this concert. But it didn’t really matter where you came from, because when Hisaishi took the stage to conduct, everyone cheered just as heartily.
The first half of the concert was all about Hisaishi’s contemporary music, focusing on harps. The first piece was “Adagio for Strings and Two Harps”, for which the string section of the Rotterdam Philharmonic was joined by two harps placed in the center of the orchestra. The second piece was a harp concerto Hisaishi had written with harpist Emmanuel Ceysson in mind, who was also present at this event. His performance was stunning, especially since he played the whole piece from memory. The highlight of this half came afterwards, when Ceysson returned to the stage to play his version of “The Legend from Ashitaka” from Mononoke Hime, which gave me the same emotional response as when I heard those notes for the first time.
The second half started with a piece Hisaishi had not written, “La Valse” from Ravel, before we could listen to the only soundtrack piece on the program, a suite from Spirited Away. During that suite, Hisaishi walked between his piano, which was located at the front center of the stage, and his conducting stand, as I have seen him do many times. It was a wonderful piece. With the loud cheers from the crowd, Hisaishi had to return for a small encore, which was “Merry-Go-Round of Life” from Howl’s Moving Castle.
It was an honor to have Joe Hisaishi visit my country, and I hope he had a great time. I certainly had a great experience, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra also helped by performing his music superbly. I have now seen Hisaishi live five times, and it never gets dull, even when he is not performing his famous work from the movies. It was a fantastic concert worth repeating, and I did not even have to travel far for it this time.
Concert information
Where: De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
When: March 29, 2025
Orchestra: The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joe Hisaishi
Harp: Emmanuel Ceysson
Program
- Joe Hisaishi – Adagio for Strings and Two Harps
- Joe Hisaishi – Harp Concerto
- Joe Hisaishi, Emmanuel Ceysson – “The Legend from Ashitaka” from Mononoke Hime
Intermission
- Ravel – La Valse
- Joe Hisaishi – Suite from Spirited Away
- Joe Hisaishi – “Merry-Go-Round of Life” from Howl’s Moving Castle (encore)
