Ryuichi Sakamoto to experiment with piano

Oscar winning pianist-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto will give two concerts on Sunday at Seoul Arts Center, Seocho-dong, southern Seoul.
/ Courtesy of Vincero

'When Sakamoto blends the melodic with the experimental, he can be quietly magnificent.'

By Lee Hyo-won

The New Year kicks off with an array of star-studded events, including a much-awaited tour by Academy Award-winning artist Ryuichi Sakamoto on Sunday. The Seoul Arts Center recital marks the pianist-composer’s return to Korea for the first time in 10 years since 2001.

The prolific musician is known for critically acclaimed film scores and electronica experiments, new wave rock numbers as well as bossa nova and classical romanticism in the tradition of Debussy — but moreover infuses a distinct style that makes his pieces his very own, regardless of the genre.

The upcoming concert is part of the “Playing the Piano” tour that kicked off in Europe in 2009 and continued through North America last year. It is expected to be a unique audiovisual experience, with the artist playing a “duet” opposite a grand piano that is set to play his own recorded backings while avant-garde visuals adorn the stage. “When Sakamoto blends the melodic with the experimental, he can be quietly magnificent,” said the Guardian about his London tour in December 2009.

The program will feature tracks from his experimental album “Out of Noise,” which is replete with piano string-plucking and exotic nature-inspired sounds. Concertgoers can also look forward to hearing jazzy pieces from his 2009 recording “Playing the Piano.”

But for many, the highlight of the evening may undoubtedly be his signature original soundtracks, which often made the music more famous than the film itself such as with “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (1983). Old will become new again as theme songs like “Rain” from “The Last Emperor” (1987), which won him an Oscar, will be given a duo piano twist.

To add a more nostalgic touch he is also expected to perform tunes from his Yellow Magic Orchestra days, when he conjured up electro-pop mixes as a trio with bassist Haruomi Hosono and drummer/vocalist Yukihiro Takahashi.

Sakamoto rose to international prominence through the group in the late 1970s and early ’80s (Eric Clapton famously sampled their music). Afterward as a solo artist he ventured into various musical styles, from working on synth-heavy collaborations with Korean media artist Nam-june Paik as well as Iggy Pop to Italian futurists and pop artists such as Dee Dee Brave, David Sylvian and Marco Prince.

In the 1990s he worked on the music for prominent filmmakers including Pedro Almodovar an Bernando Bertolucci. He also worked on bossa nova projects with the genre pioneer Antonio Carlos Jobim in Rio de Janeiro, with their album topping the New York Times’album list of 2002.

Other interesting work include composing the score for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, featuring in Madonna’s “Rain” music video and whipping up ring tones for Nokia.

Concert information

Sakamoto will give two concerts on Sunday, at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., at Seoul Arts Center. Tickets cost from 50,000 to 160,000 won. Call (02) 599-5743 for more information about the concert.

To learn more about the artist, visit his official website: www.sitesakamoto.com. Fans can also reach him on Twitter (twitter.com/ryuichisakamoto/).

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