2005 Europe (3/3)

November 23, 2005   Luxembourg, Luxembourg Sponsors: Embassy of Japan in Luxembourg, Conservatoire Place: Conservatoire Seating capacity: 600   Attendance: 450 Luxembourg is a country by the constitutional monarchy enclosed by Belgium, France and Germany. It has retained natural beauty of middle ages. Although it is a small county with population of 460,000, Luxembourg is rich and strong with the financial and IT industries. This was the first Gagaku performance held in Luxembourg, and a hall inside Conservatoire was provided as a venue. Sound facilities were perfect and we enjoyed performing in the optimum circumstance.

PROGRAM: 1.Introduction, Bugaku (Karyobin) 2.Kangen (Netori/ Etenraku/ Bairo) 3.Bugaku (Urayasu-no-mai)

Voices from the audience: "It's like a meditation. I felt the existence of God." "The entire program was well organized. Comments given by the host were good. It was a rare chance to see such a concert in Luxembourg.." "The use of free space was impressive an original." "The explanation of musical instruments was very interesting." "I felt a mysterious symbol in Bugaku." "Full of enchantment. Thank you for giving us a chance to see such an elegant art." "The choreography of Bugaku was very impressive. Bravo!" "I felt calmness and meaningfulness in the motion of Bugaku, and at the same time I felt impermanence in it. There were elegance and gracefulness that differed from those in western culture." "I felt gracefulness and solemnity." "I want to know the meaning of the motion in Bugaku."

November 25, 2005   Frankfurt, Germany Sponsors: Consulate General of Japan in Frankfurt, Verenigung der Japanischen Unternehmen Frankfurt e.V., Sprachzentrum für Japanish e.V., Deutsch-Japanische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main Place: The Japan Center at Taunustor /Conference Center "The Tokyo"  Seating capacity: 170   Attendance:130 Frankfurt is known as a financial center of EU. Our concert venue, the Japan Center, is located in the business district of Frankfurt. At the day of concert, the ground was still covered with snow from the last night. The coldness showed us a sign of severity of German winter, but there was a heat of excitement in the hall. After the performance was over, a mini-workshop was held. During the workshop, the audiences was given a chance to and play the musical instruments and ask questions to the performers. This pleased them very much and they really enjoyed the session.

PROGRAM: 1.Introduction, Bugaku (Karyobin) 2.Kangen (Netori/Etenraku/Bairo) 3.Bugaku (Urayasu-no-mai)

Consulate General of Japan in Frankfurt http://www.frankfurt.de.emb-japan.go.jp/japanisch/index.htm

Voices from the audience: "The introduction in German was easy to understand. This is true music." "The mixture of harmony and the unique sound was very interesting." "I felt dignity and highly concentrated spirit. The costumes were absolutely fantastic." "The stage was very sophisticated. There was persuasiveness in modesty. It was nice to have a chance to see such rare performance." "Wonderful music matched very well with the quiet dance. I'll never forget the elegant dance." "I was fascinated with the soul, scenery and tradition of Japan. It was a very impressive performance." "I got a peace of mind." "I felt the deep tradition in the performance." "The introduction of musical instruments was interesting. I was surprised at knowing those instruments have the same tone interval as western instruments had." "The sound was too big because the hall was small. I think it might be better if it was played in the garden." "It was a little regrettable that we couldn't see musical instruments well because the stage was set rather in a low position."