- "Opus" - the last concert by Ryuichi Sakamoto on record
This is the translated text:
Fans of the late great Japanese film composer, musician, actor, and producer Ryuichi Sakamoto ("The Last Emperor") have been eagerly awaiting this day. His posthumous album "Opus" is released today, a collection of his works for which Sakamoto sat down at the piano for a final performance just before his death. Too ill to perform the entire set at once, the works were recorded and filmed in multiple sessions at the legendary NHK 509 Studio in Tokyo. Sakamoto passed away a few months later, in March of last year, at the age of 71, after a long battle with cancer.
"This project was a way to record my performances - while I still could - in a way that would be worth preserving for the future," Sakamoto said about "Opus" after recording the concert, as reported by "Rolling Stone" magazine. "In a sense, I considered this my last performance, but I also felt that I could explore new paths," the Japanese musical genius was further quoted by the magazine.
"Opus," for which Sakamoto played solo piano without an audience and was recorded and filmed in black and white by his son Neo Sora, spans his entire catalog of works that have made musical history over the decades - from pieces from his time as bandleader of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) in the '70s and '80s, which once counted among the "Kings of Techno" alongside the German band Kraftwerk, to his deeply emotional, Grammy- and Oscar-winning film scores like "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" and "The Last Emperor."
The album also includes a handful of new or previously unreleased recordings, such as a reworked version of "Tong Poo," which appeared on YMO's debut album in 1978. Other new pieces include "For Johann," a tribute to the late Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, and "BB," written for director Bernardo Bertolucci of "The Last Emperor." Culture journalist Sophie Monks Kaufman described Sakamoto's work as evoking "emotions for which we have no names yet." Her tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto is featured in the opening credits of the U.S. trailer for the film "Opus."
From Jazz to Techno
Sakamoto, born on January 17, 1952, near Tokyo as the son of a publishing director and a hat designer, learned to play the piano as a child. He studied composition in the Japanese capital and released his first album, "Thousand Knives," a mix of electropop, jazz, and experimental music, at the age of 26. Sakamoto, who played in jazz bands during his school years, extensively experimented with electronic sound generators and explored the musical traditions and peculiarities of countries in the Third World. He gained worldwide fame when he joined YMO at the end of the '70s, becoming one of the hardest techno musicians at the time.
His insatiable curiosity and experimental spirit resulted in almost every one of his albums sounding different from the previous ones. Sakamoto also composed music for numerous films, including Volker Schlöndorff's "Die Geschichte der Dienerin." In 2014, throat cancer was diagnosed in Sakamoto. After the cancer initially seemed to be defeated, his doctors discovered colon cancer in 2021, which had spread to both lungs. Sakamoto underwent operations to remove the cancer. "Opus" was to be his final performance - for eternity.
The release of Sakamoto's posthumous album "Opus" ensures that his final performances will be preserved for future generations, serving as a testament to his musical legacy even after his death.
Reflecting on "Opus," Sakamoto considered it his last performance, yet he also saw it as an opportunity to explore new musical paths before his passing due to cancer.
