Olympic Concert 2007

- Glittering Moments! Fly to the Stage of Dreams -

The dream of every athlete: To perform on the Olympic stage. Athletes are now conserving their energy in preparation for their best performance. Tokyo, which hosted the theater of dreams in 1964, is striving to realize this dream once again.
Athletes and the city -- the wishes of both are now focusing on that glittering moment.

Program Outline

This event is staged with subsidies provided by the Keirin Public Fund.

Program Contents

• Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
• J. Williams: Olympic Fanfare and Theme
• Lehar: Vilja Song from the comic opera "The Merry Widow"
• Anderson: The Syncopated Clock
• Samara: The Olympic Hymn
• J. Williams: Theme from Superman
• Mascani: Interlude from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana
• Smetana: Symphonic poem Moldau
• Elgar: March "Pomp and Circumstance" No. 1 and others
• *The titles and order of music may be subject to change depending on circumstances.

Report on Olympic Concert 2007

Reliving drama with beautiful harmonies

Olympic Concert 2007 was staged at NHK Hall on Sunday, 17 June. Various events are held throughout the world to commemorate Olympic Day on 23 June, but the Olympic Concert is unique to Japan.

A concert and the Olympics - the two may, at first sight, appear to be unrelated, but from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm through to the 1948 Olympics in London, an "arts discipline" was staged. Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, proposed that the Olympics should be about building a broad and balanced humanity incorporating not only sports, but also arts and morals.

The theme of the 2007 concert was "Glittering Moments! Fly to the Stage of Dreams." Interspersed with interviews with athletes, famous Olympic scenes were presented backed by orchestral performances.

The concert opened with the theme from Superman. Against the backdrop of this forceful melody by John Williams, Hollywood's foremost composer, the screen on the stage showed images of gold medalists from the Athens Olympiad (2004), reminding everyone of the excitement of those days. The second piece of music was the Olympic Fanfare and Theme, which was composed by Williams to mark the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984.

Other pieces included songs with a distinctly Olympic flavor such as the Olympic Hymn, as well as classics like the symphonic poem Moldau, Beethoven's 8th Symphony First Movement, Pomp and Circumstance and other pieces well-known not only to classical music fans, but to people in general.

With an eye on the Beijing Olympics, there was a performance using the erhu - a traditional Chinese instrument. This was performed by Jiang Jianhua, who has many fans in Japan. In the soft and melodious "Moon on the Spring Waters" and the up-tempo "Czardas," she captivated the audience with a diverse range of notes.

Talks from the athletes were also well received.

In between the music, Tomoko Araga (karate), who won the Outstanding Performance Award in the 2006 JOC Sports Awards, and Kenta Matsudaira (table tennis), who won the Rookie of the Year Award, appeared on stage and talked about their hopes for the future.

Other Olympians, including Mai Nakamura (swimming) and Masato Uchishiba (judo), entertained the audience with their interesting anecdotes.

Ms. Nakamura only retired in April 2007. With a big smile on her face, she spoke about how she was filled with a sense of satisfaction in achieving her goals and encouraged young athletes following her to "eat well, train hard and never give up on your dreams." Mr. Uchishiba, who won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, firmly stated his intention to target the next Olympics in Beijing.

Meanwhile, former synchronized swimmer Mikako Kotani talked about her passion for the Olympics and called for support for Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

A PR booth for the Tokyo Olympic bid was set up at the entrance to the arena, and members of the audience were able to write their wishes for the Tokyo Olympics on streamers. Thanks to the orchestral performances, the Olympic video images and the talk by the Olympic athletes, the event proved to be an enjoyable experience for both fans of classical music and fans of the Olympic Games.

Comments from participants

Taeko (right) and Michiyo (left) Araki from Saitama Prefecture
All the family came. It was a good concert and both the music and the images were enjoyable. Watching the exploits of Japan's athletes in Athens brought back the excitement of that occasion.

Takahisa Iijima of Ohta Ward, Tokyo
The performances were, of course, wonderful and the nostalgic images from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics brought back a lot of memories for me. I was in elementary school at the time and I remember we were given the day off to watch the opening ceremony. I hope we get to experience that excitement again.

Mr. Nomura (left) and two colleagues from Kanagawa Prefecture
I came here with my colleagues from work. The performances of Moldau, and Pomp and Circumstance were impressive. Also, the JOC Sports Award Winner Kenta Matsudaira is still a high school student and seemed so full of youthful energy and innocence. I felt a strong urge to support him.

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