Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 1996

Helena Basilova – piano
Jeffrey Bruinsma – violin
Amber Docters van Leeuwen – cello

The Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952 – 2023) recorded his iconic album 1996 in collaboration with Jaques Morelenbaum and Everton Nelson in the year that gave the album its title. It is a collection of some of his best-known compositions, including excerpts from his famous film soundtracks for The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence as well as the end credits music for Babel. Sakamoto's film scores create soundscapes that are a poetic fusion of East Asian culture and western movie images. His works are permeated by a subtle melancholy and a meditative profoundness that reflects the Japanese aesthetics of transience and tranquillity.

Thirty years after the recording of the album 1996, Helena Basilova, Jeffrey Bruinsma and Amber Docters van Leeuwen explore Sakamoto's musical universe, which lies somewhere between jazz, electronic and classical music, and pay homage to its creator, the Japanese pop and avant-garde scene pioneer.

21:00
Concert, Chestnut Lawn