An animated performance

LAST weekend, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) presented a three-day series of sold-out concerts that showcased some of the most nostalgic pieces of music from classic Japanese TV shows, as well as celebrated animated films by the renowned Studio Ghibli.
Music from Anime, which featured the most popular works of three iconic Japanese anime composers – Takashi Miki, Joe Hisaishi, and Hiroshi Miyagawa – followed in the wake of MPO’s successful first anime-themed concert in 2016, A Musical Journey in Anime, which featured the music of Hisaishi.
Led by MPO’s resident conductor Naohisa Furusawa, Music from Anime opened with an Anpanman Medley of Miki’s heartwarming music, including Anpanman no March, the theme song for Soreike! Anpanman.
This television anime series about a pastry-headed superhero, which premiered in 1988, has entertained children and adults alike for the past three decades.
The Anpanman Medley alone drew in the crowd for the concerts, as it is a familiar childhood theme for many who grew up on Japanese cartoons.
The performance continued with music by acclaimed Japanese composer Hisaishi. who is known for his collaborations with Studio Ghibli.
Among his featured works were Symphonic Variation Merry-Go-Round and Cave of Mind, a concert version of his original score for 2004 fantasy film Howl’s Moving Castle; Gake No Ue No Ponyo, the theme song from 2007 fantasy film Ponyo; and Kimi Wo Nosete (Carrying You) from 1986 animated adventure film Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
The MPO was joined by the Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur Children’s Choir, who gave life to the concert with an excellent performance on these last two numbers, just before the interval.
Music from Anime also featured a personal favourite work by famed composer Miyagawa. His Orchestral Suite from the movie Space Battleship Yamato brought the awe of space exploration and the sense of military prowess in music form.
Space Battleship Yamato is a story set in the year 2199 when the crew of a space battleship embark on a dangerous journey to the planet Iscandar to acquire a device that will rejuvenate the war-ravaged Earth.
Miyagawa’s composition made a nice contrast to the fantastical music of Hisaishi.
For the last piece of the evening, conductor Furusawa donned on a Totoro costume and proceeded to lead the MPO on Hisaishi’s sweeping Orchestra Stories 2002, his score for multiple award-winning fantasy anime My Neighbour Totoro.
This score comprises eight separate character pieces namely Stroll, The Village in May, Travelling Soot – Mother, It Was Totoro!, The Path of the Wind, A Lost Child, Catbus and My Neighbour Totoro.
Incidentally, this very piece was also performed as the finale in A Musical Journey in Anime, MPO’s first anime-themed concert in 2016.
The concert had its share of surprises and variety that coupled well with the sentimental theme of the music featured. Nevertheless, I imagine that it would have been made even livelier with more costumed mascots representing each piece of music or a giant screen depicting scenes from the anime the music was taken from.
That said, it was still an entertaining show, and especially so for those who know of the anime from which those familiar scores came from.