Joe Hisaishi in Vienna: Symphony No. 2 & Viola Saga

Since the mid 1980s, Joe Hisaishi’s soundtracks have breathed life into the fantastical, animated worlds of Studio Ghibli. Here, however, away from the narrative and graphic demands of cinema, Hisaishi is able to express himself more freely as a composer in his own right. In these live performances from Vienna’s Musikverein, Hisaishi fans will recognise the large-scale scoring, hints of traditional Japanese music and melodic inspiration—but there’s a lot more to discover, too. Symphony No. 2, a three-movement work conceived and written during the pandemic, bubbles with an abundance of influences. In the opening two movements, the music has the sweeping optimism of 20th-century American symphonic music (think Aaron Copland or early Bernstein) tempered with the rhythmic insistence of John Adams’ large-scale minimalism. The final “Nursery Rhyme”, based on an ancient Japanese folk tune, sparkles with rhythmic and melodic vitality, settling in its final few minutes into a pared-back, crystalline beauty reminiscent of Arvo Pärt or Henryk Górecki. Viola Saga, written for and performed here by violist Antoine Tamestit, is an intensely expressive work. There’s a playful, driving energy to the opening movement—the sort that suffuses the best of Hisaishi’s Ghibli scores. And the beautiful, rippling second movement takes Bach as its inspiration in the twisting, turning harmonic directions of the arpeggiated solo part, and the pulsating underlying orchestral accompaniment.