The Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival (OMF)—the annual celebration of Seiji Ozawa’s musical evangelism—opened in earnest on the afternoon of August 23 at Matsumoto’s 2,000-seat Kissei Culture Hall. Though the Maestro himself is no longer physically present, the festival unveiled a packed ten-day programme centred on its crown jewel, the Saito Kinen Orchestra (SKO), under a trio of conductors.
Bathed in OMF’s signature blue-and-gold, Matsumoto has once again drawn loyal audiences, many travelling from Tokyo despite the two-and-a-half-hour high-speed train journey into this mountain-and-river-surrounded city. With major concerts and opera performances scheduled in the afternoons, busloads of ticket-holders are still able to make the return trip to Tokyo before nightfall.
A year after Ozawa’s passing in early 2024, the festival shows no sign of diminished vitality. Every programme in the SKO’s main series has sold out, a testament to the enduring magic of the event and affordable ticket price.
In SKO’s first concert, Alexander Soddy led the star-studded ensemble in a sparkling performance of Shchedrin’s The Naughty Limericks, followed by Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 5. The evening also marked the festival debut of Daishin Kashimoto, concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, who gave a commanding account of the concerto as soloist.
The festival continues with Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre this afternoon. Directed with wit and fantasy by Laurent Pelly and conducted with conviction by Nodoka Okisawa, the production promises to be one of the season’s highlights.
