大象传媒

Live from St. David's Hall in Cardiff

Presented by Nicola Heywood Thomas

Much-loved Conductor Laureate Tadaaki Otaka returns to the 大象传媒 National Orchestra of Wales for a concert embodying a heroic sense of human struggle in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Shostakovich: Symphony no.5 in D minor, Op.57

Sayaka Shoji, violin
大象传媒 National Orchestra of Wales
Tadaaki Otaka, conductor

Tadaaki Otaka was Principal Conductor of 大象传媒 NOW in the late 1980s and developed the orchestra into the force that it is today. As Conductor Laureate, he's still held in high regard by players and audience alike. Music by Beethoven and Shostakovich embody a heroic sense of human struggle in the face of overwhelming adversity. Beethoven's Coriolan overture embodies all the drama of Shakespeare's play in just 8 minutes. Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony is a social outcast's defiant reply to the state and its 1937 premiere restored his reputation. The lyrical bitter-sweet nostalgia of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto is played by rising star Sayaka Shoji. Praised for her impressive poise and refined technique by the New York Times, she was recently selected by Nikkei Business as one of the 100 most influential people for Japan.