HarrisonParrott Arts Partnerships & Tours is delighted to take Camerata Bern on its first tour of Japan. Alongside Artistic Partner Patricia Kopatchinskaja, they perform four concerts in three cities, with three different programmes.

In a concert meditating and reflecting on the theme of death, the tour begins in Tokyo’s Toppan Hall on 7 December. The concert explores death through a Byzantine Chant on Psalm 140, arranged for solo violin and string orchestra by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden and Der Tod und das Mädchen, Gesualdo’s Moro, lasso, al mio duolo, Kurtág’s Ligatura-Message to Frances-Marie, and Ruhelos from Kafka-Fragmente for Solo Violin Op.24.

Heading to Saitama Art Theatre on 8 December, Camerata Bern presents three seemingly different works to their Japanese hosts: Die Wut (The Rage), written by PatKop, is a very expressive work that lives up to its title. Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto follows this, and the programme concludes with Schubert’s best-known string quartet, Death and the Maiden, in a version for string ensemble. This concert will be recorded by NHK TV for deferred broadcast. 

Travelling back to Toppan Hall with a different programme on 9 December, Camerata Bern presents a selection of compositions written especially for them alongside complimentary traditional works. Specially composed compositions include Gabrielle Brunner’s finely articulated Szene II (2022), based on a poem by Ingeborg Bachmann, and the Hungarian-Swiss composer Sándor Veress’ Musica Concertante (1966), a highly virtuosic concerto. These works are accompanied by Kodály’s Dances of Marosszék arranged by Veress, Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, and Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

Kyoto is their final destination on this tour, with a concert at Kyoto’s Concert Hall on 11 December. This concert revisits PatKop’s Die Wut, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. On 10 December, they will have a unique open session with Noh actor, Kotaro Kawamura at Kawamura Noh Theatre, where they experiment with Japanese-traditional Noh theatre.