Joe Hisaishi - Mladi

Joe Hisaishi — Mládí

Limited edition 12" single on royal blue/black splatter vinyl

Mládí brings together music from three of the composer's scores for films made by actor-director Takeshi Kitano

This summer Joe Hisaishi became the first classical artist to headline three consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden, performing selections of the music he has written for the Studio Ghibli films of Hayao Miyazaki. For his latest Deutsche Grammophon release, the legendary composer, conductor and pianist turns the spotlight on his work with another leading figure in Japanese cinema, Takeshi Kitano. Recorded as part of the hugely successful collaboration with the Wiener Symphoniker that began with Hisaishi's acclaimed debut at the Vienna Musikverein in March 2023, Mládí will be released digitally and as a 12-inch vinyl EP to mark Hisaishi's 74th birthday on December 6, 2024.

Written for piano and strings, Mládí sees Hisaishi take on the soloist's role, directing the players of the Wiener Symphoniker from the keyboard. The suite is made up of three excerpts from his soundtracks for films written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. Its opening movement, "Summer", is taken from the 1999 road movie Kikujiro, "HANA-BI" comes from the 1997 crime thriller of the same name (also released as Fireworks), and the suite ends with the title track from Kitano's 1996 coming-of-age story "Kids Return." Borrowed from the title of a wind sextet by Leoš Janácek, Mládí means "youth" in Czech.

An icon of the film world, Joe Hisaishi is known globally for his collaborations with Miyazaki on such movies as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and, most recently, The Boy and the Heron (2023), for which the composer earned a Golden Globe nomination. His debut Deutsche Grammophon album, A Symphonic Celebration — Music from the Studio Ghibli films of Hayao Miyazaki, was one of last year's best-selling classical albums worldwide.

 

Side A

1. Summer

2. HANA-BI

Side B

1. Kids Return

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it