Joe Hisaishi Conducts＜Crystal Clear LP＞

久石譲が作曲家の視点でクラシック曲の新たな魅力を引き出すシリーズ「JOE HISAISHI Future Orchestra Classics vol.7」を収録したライブ盤。

ニューヨークの同時多発テロ(9.11)の発生現場を訪れた際の衝撃がきっかけとなって作曲を始めた「The End of the World」は2015年以来9年ぶりとなる再演を収録。
また、ミニマル・ミュージックの巨匠にして現代最高の作曲家のひとりであるスティーヴ・ライヒの「砂漠の音楽」【※オリジナル編成版(1984年)全曲】は世界初演から40年間、日本での演奏が実現していなかった難曲。今回久石譲の手により日本初演となり、各所から絶賛を浴びた演奏である。
※180g重量盤、Gatefold仕様
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

Joe Hisaishi is known for the music he has composed for the films of Hayao Miyazaki, but he is also a conductor whose concerts can fill the likes of Madison Square Garden. Generally, he leads his own music, but this 2025 release on Deutsche Grammophon adds a new wrinkle. It opens with Steve Reichs The Desert Music, a setting of a text by William Carlos Williams for chorus and ensemble. It has always been a bit mysterious how Hisaishis style seems to have sprung forth fully formed, but he has stated that he was fundamentally influenced by Reich, and one can hear it in the album. He doesnt exactly sound like Reich, but the mix of minimalism and programmatic content in Reichs later music certainly had its effect on the young Japanese composer. From Hisaishi himself, one hears The End of the World, which culminates in country singer Skeeter Davis song of that name, a delightful effect. Hisaishi conducts a Japanese group, apparently of his own, called Future Orchestra Classics. He has recorded music of various kinds with this ensemble, including Beethoven, but this release seems unusually close to the bone, and it is entirely enjoyable. ~ James Manheim