Rock Star Adulation in Japan

The Cincinnati Symphony performed with a genuine star Tuesday evening at Kyushu Kosei Nenkin Hall in Kitakyushu, Japan, Chinese pianist Yundi Li.

Two young girls ran to the foot of the stage at the conclusion of Grieg's Piano Concerto to hand him a gift in a paper bag (one of the hall managers stood by to restrain them if necessary).

There was a crush at intermission for Li's CDs in the lobby, and autograph seekers formed a long line after the concert. Many crowded around with cell phone cameras held high.

It was the kind of adulation rock stars enjoy and a measure of the state of classical music in Japan.

The concert, on a rainy night in this city of 1 million on the southern island of Kyushu, caused a massive traffic jam. The snarl was so bad that the orchestra buses could not approach the hall and the players had to exit down the street.

Li was not the only star of the show. Led by music director Paavo Järvi, the CSO is the first American orchestra to perform at Kitakyushu's 16-year-old International Music Festival. Järvi, Li and the CSO were the centerpiece of festival posters seen throughout town and on banners at Kokura Rail Station (CSO president Steven Monder retrieved one of the banners to bring home).

Li and the orchestra also performed an open rehearsal Tuesday afternoon for 1,300 Japanese school children ages 12-15. The rehearsal was taped by Radio Television Hong Kong for airing Feb. 7 as part of a documentary about eight young Chinese musicians. (Of further interest to Cincinnati, the documentary also will include conductor Xian Zhang, assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and violinist Chuan Yu, a former member of CCM's Starling Chamber Orchestra.)

Negotiations are underway for the show to be aired by stations in mainland China as well.

The concert continued the pattern Järvi and the CSO have enjoyed since they arrived in Japan last week. The hall was nearly full (it was the final concert of the festival) and enthusiasm was high. Sibelius' "Finlandia" made a stirring opener and the featured work was Berlioz' "Symphonie fantastique."

Li and Järvi collaborated closely in the Grieg, Järvi bringing out some lovely dialogue with the CSO winds. It was a full blown romantic reading, with a dreamy slow movement and considerable drama in the outer movements. A charismatic performer with an unruly shock of hair, the tall, lanky pianist was fun to watch as he threw his head back and tore his hands from the keys at climactic moments. There were some shining moments by the CSO, such as flutist Kyril Magg's luminous solo in the finale.

Li gave Järvi a start by handing him the bouquet of flowers a hall representative gave Li as he took his bows (flowers are customary in Japan for male as well as female performers). Järvi gave them back to Li with a smile.

A hero of the concert was associate principal oboist Lon Bussell who subbed for ailing principal Richard Johnson on a day's notice. Bussell, whose role as second oboe calls for him to perform offstage during the third movement of the Berlioz, had to walk gingerly through the orchestra during the performance to take his position in the wings. "It was amusing for my colleagues and for Paavo," said Bussell, who had to sneak past principal flutist Randolph Bowman during one of Bowman's solos.

Järvi filled the Berlioz with color, though with less podium animation than usual. "I did this on purpose," he said afterward. "I wanted to see how the orchestra played without my adrenalin." They played very well, though with less electricity than on earlier concerts on the tour.

The audience was thrilled nonetheless, calling for two encores, Berlioz' "Rakoczy March" and Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5. Järvi poured on the juice here. The Berlioz was all swagger and brass, with a leap by Järvi and a big ritard on the last repeat of the march theme. He let his arms drop on the final chord as if to let them go on playing without him, then gave them a sudden, sharp cutoff.

The audience began clapping along with the Hungarian Dance - as the Music Hall audience did when Järvi conducted it in October - and he gave them the same sly sideways glance. He shaped it to hilarious effect, exaggerating dynamics and rhythm and ending with a swift, dismissive cutoff.

There was more good humor during the applause. When the CSO musicians refused to stand and began applauding Järvi, he mounted the podium and turned to acknowledge them. Expecting another encore, the audience stopped clapping. Looking surprised, Järvi turned back to the crowd, which began clapping again. To settle the issue (encore or no), Järvi walked off waving.

Wednesday was a free day for the musicians, many walking to restored, pagoda-style Kokura Castle, or taking advantage of the city's ample shopping.

The orchestra flies back to Tokyo Thursday for a concert at Metropolitan Art Space, then to Osaka and Yamagata. They return to Cincinnati Sunday.