My husband, Carl, always dreamed of hearing the Bach Collegium Japan, his favorite interpreters of the works of Bach … in Japan!

We were fortunate to hear them live — in Los Angeles, Valparaiso, and even in Leipzig, Germany, at Bach’s church, St. Thomas. They were outstanding performances, all of them.

But sadly, he never heard the choir and orchestra in Japan, their home territory. And what a difference it makes!

Today Bill Potter and I went to the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, which had its debut on September 10, 1997, with a performance of J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion performed by the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. It is a stunning space, with a seating capacity of 1632. Today there was a full house, with nearly all the seats sold out.

We arrived early, and heard a short talk by this afternoon’s conductor Masato Suzuki, who is the son of Masaaki Suzuki, the founder of the Bach Collegium Japan. At one point, the father and son were on stage together and spoke about the works to be performed today. Since they spoke in Japanese, of course I didn’t understand a word, and Bill Potter only gave me a one-sentence summary.

Today’s program opened with Masato Suzuki playing two organ pieces by Bach on the same tunes as two of the cantatas which followed: Ach wie nichtig, ach wie fluchtig (BWV 644) and Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (BWV 654). Masato added a lot of ornamentation to the chorale melody in Schmücke dich, and Bill tried to convince me that that was what the German called for, “adorn yourself.”

The choir then followed with four cantatas: Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott (BWV 139); Ach wie nichtig, ach wie fluchtig (BWV 26); intermission; Christum wir sollen loben schon (BWV 121); and Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele (BWV 180).

What impressed me was the extremely high performance level of the choir and orchestra, but the vocal and instrumental soloists were especially outstanding. In the performance of four different cantatas, with different instrumentations for each, we were able to hear virtuosity on a number of instruments. Notable were three baroque oboes, the recorder player, the transverse flute player and the violoncello piccolo player, who looked like he was playing a giant violin.

UPDATE: Jennifer Lane rightly pointed out that the photo above shows a viola da spalla (shoulder) and not a violoncello piccolo which is a bigger instrument like the one we saw in the concert. What is unusual was that he played it on his shoulder like a viola and not sitting upright like a cello. “A Cello for Violinists”is an article about these bass string instruments. Zachary Carrettin (below) is playing a viola da spalla but it looks more like the big instrument we saw.

The size of both instruments made them suitable for playing on the shoulder but it was, of course, also possible to play them the way we play cello now.

I would have to call today’s performance absolute perfection and I had lots of goosebumps throughout. I am so, so sorry that Carl was not here to enjoy it — he would have loved it and been in “hog heaven.”

========

This morning we attended the English service at St. Paul International Lutheran Church. Bill Potter actually had classes in this building in 1969 and came here every day for months. Our friend in Honolulu, Karl Bachman, was the pastor of this church for several years in the 90s and a few parishioners told us they remembered him. At this time, they do not have a pastor and members lead the service. Two Sundays per month, Holy Communion is celebrated by Pastor Saito, of the sister Japanese congregation, as it was today. Unfortunately, the building will have to be torn down within the next few years because it is not in compliance with earthquake standards.

Yesterday we also visited St. Mary’s Cathedral (Roman Catholic) but unfortunately, we were unable to take photos of the interior. I bought a set of six postcards and found a photo of the organ built by Mascioni.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. I fly home tomorrow night.