Over to Tokyo this week, for a change of scenery.
The celebrated NHK Symphony, guest conducted by Vaclav Neumann and featuring Naoko Ihara (Alto) in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony Number 3 – recorded at NHK Hall in Tokyo on December 12, 1984 and broadcast live.
Naoko Ihara made her opera debut in 1969 as Erda in “Das Rheingold,” followed by a well-received performance in the title role of “Carmen.” She has also performed with major orchestras, including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, and has received high praise.
In 1975, she signed an exclusive contract with the French Opéra de la Rhine (Strasbourg Opera House), and appeared in “Carmen,” “Orpheus,” “Siegfried,” etc. He appeared in “Boris Godunov” and “Carmen” at the Salzburg, Luxembourg, Hellbrunn Festival, and in West Germany, and sang many works in concerts, including “Resurrection” and “St. Matthew Passion.”
In 1980, she sang the title role of “Carmen” in the Nikikai Opera production, and the role of Azucena in “Il Trovatore” (conducted by A. Erede), to great acclaim. After that, she continued to perform in France, Belgium, and other countries, before returning to Japan in 1981. She subsequently appeared in “Aida,” “Pelléas et Mélisande,” “Die Walküre,” and other productions.
In 1989, she was soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s “Resurrection” in Boston, Hong Kong, and Japan.
In February 1990, she received positive reviews for her performance in Suzuki’s Madame Butterfly, which was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Nikikai Society, and in July she participated in and performed at the Savorinna Opera Festival (Finland).
She sang “Rigoletto” in February 1991 and “Twilight of the Gods” in July, and her appearance in the latter in particular made her the only singer to have appeared in all four of Nikikai’s Ring cycles, which were completed after 22 years, further solidifying her position as Japan’s leading prima donna in both name and reality.
Naoko Ihara is also an active concert performer, and is particularly renowned as a Mahler specialist, having performed with many major orchestras.
Vaclav Neumann Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and Pavel Dědeček and Metod Doležil (conducting) from 1940 through 1945.
He co-founded the Smetana Quartet, playing 1st violin and then viola.
Neumann made his debut as a conductor with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1948, remaining as a conductor with that ensemble through 1950. In 1951 he became principal conductor of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. He left that post in 1954 to become principal conductor of the Brno Symphony Orchestra (SOKB). In 1956, he began to conduct at the Komische Oper in Berlin; beginning with a celebrated production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen on 30 May 1956. He toured with that production to Paris and Wiesbaden; conducting a total of 215 performance between the three cities. He remained at the Komische Oper for eight years, leaving in 1964 to become conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and General Music Director of the Leipzig Opera. He stayed there until 1968, when he became principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, a post he held until 1990 and again in 1992-1993. He was concurrently General Music Director of the Stuttgart Staatsoper from 1970 through 1973.
Neumann taught conducting at the Prague Academy for Music, where his students included Oliver von Dohnányi and Vítězslav Podrazil.
He was particularly noted as a champion of Czech music, and made the first studio recording of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Excursions of Mr. Brouček in 1962.
Vaclav Neumann can be seen conducting the Czech Philharmonic in a recording of the Dvořák Cello Concerto with Julian Lloyd Webber. This is featured in the 1988 film Dvorak – In Love? by director Tony Palmer.
Vaclav Neumann died on September 2, 1995.
Enjoy the concert – announcements are cut down to a minimum.
