[2024] First Preliminary Round Report

 

• Report

The pieces in the first round were by Mozart. Each of the 18 contestants was given 20 minutes to conduct a rehearsal of the first halves of the first and second movements of Symphony No. 38, also known as the Prague Symphony, and the recitatives of Tamino and The Speaker from the finale of Act 1 of the opera The Magic Flute. The pieces were performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (the performances in response to each conductor were brilliant). The soloists were Ryoichi NAKAI and Taiki TANAKA. Most of the contestants rehearsed by going through the pieces first, and then revisiting the parts they wanted to make changes to (a few contestants rehearsed bit by bit, or by stopping the orchestra abruptly where they wanted to make changes). In Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, rather than conducting technique, the contestants’ musicality, their musical sensibilities, and eye for detail appeared to be the main focus of testing. In The Magic Flute, the singers were placed behind the conductor. It is rare for young conductors to have the opportunity to conduct recitatives. The important thing for them here was not just to match the singers, but also to understand the piece and be able to communicate musical changes to the orchestra.

No. 56. Erika KIKO

Erika studied at the Tokyo College of Music and its graduate school and has subsequently conducted several professional orchestras in Japan. In Symphony No. 38, Erika’s conducting was expansive, and the scale of music she created was grand. The performance overflowed with the joy of the music. Erika’s conducting was remarkable in bringing out the dynamics and speed of the music. Of course, in some parts, one wished for a little more darkness. Erika conducted The Magic Flute brilliantly and succeeded in bringing out its drama.

 

No. 68. Kornilios Viktor MICHAILIDIS

Kornilios is from Greece and has studied in the United States and Finland. He skillfully brought out the expressiveness of the music through his conducting. In Symphony No. 38, he sought to create greater intensity and expand the dynamics of the music. The second movement was beautifully performed with a lot of modulation. Conducting The Magic Flute seemed to come naturally to Kornilios, as though he had a great deal of experience conducting the whole piece. His conducting managed to both control the orchestra and help the music flow naturally. In the recitative, the changes in music marking the interaction between the two singers were exquisite.

 

No. 90. Tatsuma TAKAHASHI

Tatsuma studied at Tokyo University of the Arts and its graduate school, and then graduated from the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. His conducting skills were very sound. He paid attention to the nuances of the music and impressively explained them in words during the rehearsal. For example, when conducting Symphony No. 38, he talked about how Mozart had traveled to many places and seen diverse scenes right from childhood before asking for a change in musical expression, and in The Magic Flute, he explained the scene while instructing The Speaker on how to sing his part.

 

No.106 Daiki KANNARI

Daiki studied at Tokyo University of the Arts and its graduate school and has been serving as assistant conductor for the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2023. His conducting was very expressive. When transitioning from the introduction (Adagio) to the main portion (Allegro) in the first movement of Symphony No. 38, he gave appropriate instructions saying, I will conduct using a two-beat pattern, but please recognize it as 4/4 time (as per the score). Daiki conducted The Magic Flute without stopping the orchestra even once, but he seemed to have prepared meticulously, right down to the smallest detail.

 

No.124 Ayano YOSHIZAKI

Ayano graduated from the Piano Department of the KITAKAMAKURA Girls’ Senior High School and went on to major in conducting from Tokyo University of the Arts. She is currently pursuing a post graduate degree from the same university and is also a conducting trainee for the Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra Tokyo. Ayano’s conducting during the introduction to the first movement of Symphony No. 38 was cautious, and the music seemed to lack spirit, but it steadily gained momentum during the main portion. Ayano gave the impression of focusing on conducting accurately rather than expressing herself through the music. Ayano conducted the The Magic Flute without stopping the orchestra even once, but demonstrated sound conducting skills.

 

No.156 Nikita SOROKIN

Nikita, who is from France, studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory and the Conservatoire de Paris, and also served as assistant to Alain Altinoglu at the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. His significant height made his conducting look somewhat awkward, but he was able to bring out the expressiveness of the music very well. His instructions to the orchestra were precise and the introduction to the second movement of Symphony No. 38 was quite well conducted. In The Magic Flute, Nikita brought out the expressiveness of the piece by communicating with the orchestra and the singers.

 

No.171 Hiroki OKAZAKI

Having graduated from the Department of Vocal Music, Tokyo University of the Arts, Hiroki is currently enrolled in the Department of Conducting in the same university. In the first movement of Symphony No. 38, he conducted using thrusting baton movements right from the introduction, but he also gave the impression of meticulously creating the music. He used easy-to-understand verbal instructions, such as “like a bell” and “let it ring through the hall.” In The Magic Flute, there was a softness to the interludes under his guidance, as can be expected from someone with a vocal music background. During dramatic moments, Hiroki was able to draw out the intensity of the music from the orchestra.

 

No.176 Fumitaka MURAKAMI

Fumitaka graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts and is currently a conducting trainee at the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won prizes in piano competitions in Japan. Under his guidance, the music of Symphony No. 38 flowed very naturally and was quite expressive. In The Magic Flute, again, he led the orchestra with precise cues. He created the music meticulously, paying attention to small details such as the appropriate tone of the orchestra for Tamino’s singing part versus The Speaker’s.

 

No.209 Riley Holden COURT-WOOD

Riley is from the United Kingdom. He graduated in violin from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Right from the introduction to the first movement of Symphony No. 38, his arm movements expressed the music well. His used soft baton movements to create lively music. His instructions to the orchestra were brilliantly timed to be one-step ahead of the music. Riley conducted the second movement of Symphony No. 38 at good, lively tempo. The introduction was performed simply, and the dynamics were quite clear. In The Magic Flute, he expressed his own sense of the music by varying the speed. His cues were clear and enabled the orchestra to produce precise sounds. 



Soloists : Ryoichi NAKAI and Taiki TANAKA