Royal Philharmonic land Japanese film star
OrchestrasDeutsche Grammophon is all excited today about signing Joe Hisaishi, the successful Japanese composer associated with the magical Studio Ghibli animations of director Hayao Miyazaki.
London’s RPO got in first on the recording deal, with the composer conducting.
Farewell DG. It was nice knowing you for at least 60 years. I now await the new Hyperion releases from the same stable. What about a symphonic medley of fifties ITV advertising jingles?
Well, they still put out a few worthy releases on occasion… but they lost my regular attention with the cocktail-bar-piano arrangements of Disney tunes by Lang Lang.
That Disney album likely paid for Matthias Goerne to record Schubert and Schreker songs, Fabio Luisi to record Nielsen symphonies, and more Beethoven Sonatas from Pollini.
If DG only recorded what met your artistic standards, it likely would have gone bankrupt by the 1990s.
That’s a very good point. Thank you for making it.
I am sure you would say the same when they’ve released John Williams or Bernard Herrmann score recordings on DG then?
Dramatic much? Hisaishi writes good music.
Oh, joy.
A word of support for Joe Hisaishi’s conducting skills, independent of his own music. He recently recorded one of the best Beethoven symphony cycles ever, plus a phenomenal Brahms 1st, all for the Japanese Exton label.
. . . an expensive boutique label that has all but disappeared in the west. I don’t know of any streaming services that carry Exton’s recordings either.