Mitsuko Uchida in Concert (April 23, 2025)

During most of the afternoon I practiced on Mr. Cosmo’s wonderful Steinway. Graziella and Tamino, as you can see, were quite interested in my playing and very supportive.  I am trying to learn to play more and more without fear, which is something Mr. Cosmo tells me is essential.  It is an important lesson for me, and I think I am getting better at doing it.

In the evening I went to Carnegie Hall to hear Uchida perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and it was truly amazing. I promised myself I would listen as carefully as I could in order to absorb as much as possible.

I was impressed by the audience's standing ovation when Uchida appeared (before the performance began), how she completely controlled the entire hall, and how insightful each phrase was.

Just as she started to play, someone in the audience coughed loudly. Then she stopped playing and gestured to the audience, "Now is your chance to sneeze and cough away." After a good laugh, she started playing with a more focused tone. She played Beethoven's Concerto No. 4, and in the beautiful second movement in particular, I vividly imagined Beethoven composing, the atmosphere of the room, and the emotions (although it was completely in my imagination).

The performance brought up an interesting question for me. Does the sound of an orchestra change depending on the conductor? When I went to the Vienna Philharmonic's Japan performance some time ago, Seiji Ozawa conducted as a guest for a few minutes at the end of the performance. It was the same orchestra members. They used the same instruments. Of course, it was the same hall. But the tone was completely different from before.

When I performed in Turkey, the conductor was different in the first year and the second time, but the tone of the orchestra was different. Come to think of it, in the first year, I was told that "the tone of the orchestra became more noble than usual to match my Mozart."

Did the Boston Philharmonic change through collaboration with Mitsuko Uchida? Or was Mitsuko Uchida influenced by the Boston Philharmonic? Or was there a "chemical reaction" between the two? Also, as I begin to get ready for my concert with opera singers in June, will my piano be influenced by the voice of an opera singer, and express an otherwise different tone?

There is a lot to think about as I continue to polish my own sound.