Radmila Ershak - Radomil Eliska / Sapporo Symphony Orchestra - Import Blu-ray Disc

Credits:

Radmila Ershak

Description:

Released for the 90th anniversary of Radomil Eliška's birth and the 60th anniversary of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. The conductor's deeply moving final concert, now issued complete on Blu-ray. A warm and memorable performance that speaks to the special bond between conductor and orchestra. Radomil Eliška, who died in 2019, gave his celebrated final Japanese concert in 2017, and it is now released complete on Blu-ray in celebration of the 90th anniversary of his birth and the 60th anniversary of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, both falling in 2021. Eliška himself loved this footage long before it was commercially released, invariably showing it to visitors at his home; it now appears as his first video release. The main work, Scheherazade, was the programme with which Eliška first appeared with the Sapporo Symphony in 2006. Once it was settled that, for reasons of health, this would be his last concert in Japan, the repertoire was changed at the maestro's own request, and the performance is charged with emotion. The sound of the Sapporo Symphony, with whom he had built a relationship of unusual trust, is equally affecting, and seeing the concert on film brings the atmosphere of the evening vividly back to life. The booklet includes contributions from Kumiko Kajiyoshi, head of Office Brouček, who was involved in bringing Eliška to Japan and in his recordings, and from Ryosuke Miyashita, general manager of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. They write about first meeting the maestro, about the final concert and the farewell, and about how the film came to be made. A complete record of his concerts with the Sapporo Symphony and behind-the-scenes bonus footage make this a valuable document. Radomil Eliška (Honorary Conductor, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra) Born in 1931 in the Czech Republic. He studied conducting at the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno with Břetislav Bakala, a leading pupil of Leoš Janáček. From 1969 to 1990 he was chief conductor and music director of the distinguished Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble that gave the European premiere of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World". In 1978 he was invited to join the conducting faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he taught for 33 years, 17 of them as professor. He served as president of the Czech Dvořák Society from 2001 to 2013. As a guest conductor he appeared with the Czech Philharmonic and virtually every other Czech orchestra, and made frequent appearances at the Prague Spring Festival. He first visited Japan in 2004, made his debut with the Sapporo Symphony in 2006, became its principal guest conductor in 2008 and its honorary conductor in 2015. His performances and recording projects covering Dvořák's Symphonies Nos. 5-9, the complete Brahms symphonies and Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies were widely acclaimed. In 2017 he received a Special Prize at the 30th Music Pen Club Awards together with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. He died in Prague on 1 September 2019 at the age of 88. King International