Yuzuru Hanyu Programme Concert ~Music with Wings~
The orchestra concert took place on 6 and 7 Jan 2020 in Tokyo. There was a broadcast of it in Feb and I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH.
VIDEO (thanks to fans who uploaded and shared)
It’s 2 hours+, and it’s like a journey through Yuzu’s skating life. I translated some narration briefly and also put down the time for each piece of music so that it’s easy to re-watch certain parts. Highly recommended to watch when you have some free time to enjoy it fully. You can watch it in 2 parts of one hour each (there is intermission halfway, haha).
So here are my notes and partial translation/paraphrasing. (asterisk * means it’s my own thoughts/feelings)
Starts with Summer Storm, his free programme when he was 12 (2006-2007).
3:55 Yuzu’s video message: (very briefly) he welcomes everyone to the concert and says how music is an essential part of figure skating. The programme is born from the music and he really wants to express music through figure skating. This is the first time that there is a concert of the music from his very first programme until the current programmes. So he hopes everyone will enjoy it.
5:54 - baby photo: Narrator: This is one year-old Hanyu-senshu. All of you already know this very well (*because the audience are all Yuzu-fans, haha) but let’s look back together. He was born on 7 Dec 1994 in Sendai.
2nd photo: Narrator: Around the time of this photo, when he was 4 years old, he started skating. Since we are here, orchestra members let’s also look at this photo together. (laughter) Very kawaii….. what a precious photo. (applause)
Cowboy costume photo: Narrator: When he was 6, he went for a competition, Dai-ei Cup, and he won with a great performance. His very first competition was at 5 years old and his programme music was ‘Ultraman Gaia’. He loved the show and chose this music himself. Until now he still remembers the final pose. Let’s listen to 3 pieces of music now (from his childhood days).
7:15 Ultraman Gaia
8:40 Camptown Races (*so fun! Reminds me of my childhood days too!)
10:00 From Russia with Love (with 10 year-old Yuzu skating)
14:16 Narrator: From here, we will have 4 pieces of music from his novice and junior period. (Talks a bit about each piece.) ‘Mission Impossible ‘ and ‘Paganini’ were the programmes with which he won Junior GPF in 2009 (and Junior Worlds in 2010).
15:20 Sing Sing Sing (*a very lively piece and the drummer is so cool!)
19:35 The Firebird
24:30 Mission Impossible (with 15 year-old Yuzu skating)
27:50 Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini (with pianist Kotaro Fukuma) (*I was so happy to see him! Watched him perform Chopin live with Yuzu before, at FaOI 2015!)
34:45 Conductor’s speech (translation in link at the end)
37:20 Narrator: Now we go on to his senior programmes. (Talks a bit about each of the next 4 pieces of music.)
39:00 White Legend (*the Japanese traditional musical instruments are awesome!!!)
43:38 Zigeunerweisen (*violinist is amazing)
52:18 Etude in D-sharp minor (with pianist Kotaro Fukuma again)
56:56 Romeo & Juliet (with 17 year-old Yuzu skating)
– Intermission–
1:02:40 Start of 2nd half
1:03:10 Parisian Walkways (*super cool!!!)
1:06:55 Notre Dame de Paris
1:12:28 Love Theme from Romeo&Juliet (*love this a lot)
1:17:27 Narrator: At the age of 19, he became an Olympic champion. These are photos from the victory parade in Sendai, his hometown. But there are memories that cannot be forgotten, the great earthquake of 2011. He chose 'Requiem of Heaven and Earth’ for his exhibition programme in 2015.
The pianist for 'Requiem’, Shiori-san, shares about his 2015 collaboration with Yuzu. (translation in link at the end)
1:21:07 Requiem of Heaven and Earth (*Had tears cos I watched Yuzu perform this live in 2015 and the sadness and anguish in his performance came flooding back.)
1:24:45 Narrator talks about the next 4 pieces of music.
1:25:45 Asian Dream Song (*so beautiful, I had tears again) (t/n. Yuzu’s programme 'Hope and Legacy’ consists of 'Asian Dream Song’ and 'View of Silence’, both composed by Joe Hisaishi)
1:33:28 Notte Stellata (with an opera singer)
1:37:57 Phantom of the Opera (with the same singer)
1:43:33 Chopin Ballade No. 1 (solo performance by Kotaro Fukuma)
After the performance, Kotaro-san shared about his collaboration with Yuzu in 2015 and his thoughts on Yuzu’s skating. (translation in link below, must read!)
1:58:26 Otonal (*love this)
2:02:21 Origin (*this is awesome! Wish Yuzu could perform Origin to a live orchestra one day!)
2:07:10 SEIMEI (*Perfect end to the concert! And I really love the Japanese drums!)
What an amazing concert! Besides the music which made me feel intensely all sorts of emotions (I got goosebumps so many times), it was also very interesting to see the musicians and the different instruments that created those beautiful sounds that we are so familiar with (due to watching Yuzu’s skating videos countless times, haha). The videography is very well done. Much thanks to the musicians and to Yuzu and to all who made this happen, and thanks to the fans who shared the video!
Translation of the conductor’s and the two pianists’ words can be found in this thread of tweets. (love what they said about Yuzu)
