Led by Kazuki Yamada’s baton—and featuring acclaimed violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider—the podium brought together a stirring pairing of the two great composers.
MILAN, ITALY — The season of the La Scala’s Philharmonic orchestra continues apace, with the debut of Kazuki Yamada: a Japanese conductor who grew up under the wing of Seiji Ozawa.
His baton led Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations op. 36., accompanied by virtuoso Nikolaj Znaider who performed Pyotr Il’ič Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major op. 35. As one of the greatest living violinists, Znaider made his debut with La Scala’s Philharmonic orchestra in 2007 with Valery Gergiev, with a second appearance in the season in 2012 alongside Sir Colin Davis.
Seiji Ozawa
Nikolaj Znaider at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Photograph: Cai Leilei
Kazuki Yamada is the music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. Born in Kanagawa, he often emphasises that his time with Seiji Ozawa helped him develop his “Japanese feeling” for classical music.
He regularly returns to Japan to take the podium of the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Elgar’s Enigma Variations is the English composer’s masterpiece that marked the beginning of his collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
by Chidozie Obasi