Kazuki Yamada on Walton

Released at the beginning of the month on Deutsche Grammophon, Kazuki Yamada's scintillating accounts of Walton's two symphonies and Orb and Sceptre constitute the first recordings of these works in the 'Yellow Label's catalogue as well as the Japanese conductor's debut on disc as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The results are described as 'marvellously stylish' in the April edition of Gramophone, whilst Presto's Matthew Ash recently noted that 'the technical virtuosity of the CBSO players is dwarfed only by the sheer musicianship on display'.

In a break from rehearsals in Monte-Carlo (where he is also currently Artistic and Music Director), Maestro Yamada spoke to Presto about his first brush with English orchestral music as a high-school student and subsequent conversion to all things Waltonian, embracing life in Birmingham, inspirational visits to Ischia, Malvern and Aldeburgh, and the strong kinship which he feels between Japanese and English culture.

Did you conduct much British music in your student days?

My conducting career actually began with one of the most famous pieces of English music. When I was about sixteen, our high school wind orchestra held auditions for a new conductor: it was elected by fellow students, and everybody had to conduct a piece of their choice for the final round. I was one of the final four candidates, and I went for Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1. 

I don’t remember how the piece came onto my radar...I wasn’t a massive classical music fan at that age and didn’t go to many concerts, but I knew that central melody - maybe from watching the Last Night of the Proms on TV. I used to play it on the piano, and it works really well for wind orchestra. It did the trick, and I won!

I shared that story with the CBSO when we did it together for the first time; it was during COVID so there was no live audience but conducting that piece with a British orchestra as a Japanese conductor was a dream come true! Whenever I conduct English music with an English orchestra, I feel very honoured, whether it’s Walton, Britten, Elgar or Holst.

When did Walton himself enter the picture for you?

That teenage encounter with Elgar aside, I didn’t conduct so much British music in the early part of my career. A few Japanese orchestras suggested Walton’s Symphony No. 1 to me on various occasions, and I wasn’t sure…there’s just so much going on in his music! I bided my time for ten years, and when I started doing more English music with the CBSO I thought ‘How about it?’. The first time I conducted the symphony was with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and they played it so well. That was when I fully realised what a great composer he is, and I started to explore other pieces like the Overtures and eventually Symphony No. 2. I’m such a convert that I’ve bought the complete orchestral scores: they live in my apartment in Birmingham.

I became so fascinated by the man and his music that I went on a little pilgrimage to his house in Ischia; I visited in February, when the place was officially closed to visitors, but luckily one of the staff opened it up just for me and I spent two wonderful hours there. I’d heard about the wonderful exotic garden and expected it to be flat, but it’s actually on a mountain! There are plants from all over the world, and in the middle of the mountain is a small concert hall with two pianos. I explored the house and visited his grave, which is almost at the summit. 

Looking out at that fantastic sea-view, I got a real sense of Walton’s personality and philosophy – rather than staying in England he decided to live in Ischia with its great food, views and vino, and I think that says a lot about him as a person… He was a man of passion and impulse who knew how to enjoy life: let’s not forget that he fell in love with his wife Susana at first sight and proposed to her on the day they met! That’s why his music is so interesting and says something special to us. 

Do you feel that the two symphonies occupy very different soundworlds?

Walton said in an interview that the two World Wars changed his life so much. Symphony No. 1 was composed between the Wars, but things were still fairly unstable – the Nazis were coming to power in Germany and the situation across Europe was very uncertain. That’s why Walton decided to travel, and he did that by ship rather than by air, so he had plenty of time to ruminate on the move…

My feeling is that the First Symphony is a story of adventure, of opening new doors. The first movement depicts the waves and the ship transporting you to new places and views. It was also written at a time when Walton was dealing with lost love, and he couldn’t write the finale because he was so affected by that: that’s why they premiered it with only three movements. He eventually completed it, but that’s such a human thing - sometimes life gets in the way of the best-laid plans! 

The Second Symphony was written some time after the end of World War Two and it’s much deeper and more introspective, as well as having a lot of film music elements. Again it was technically peacetime, but with everything going on in the USA and USSR as well as across Europe there was still a lot of global tension, and I think you feel that in the music. All was peaceful in Ischia, but Walton was well aware of the bigger picture…

How do you spend your free time in Birmingham?

I have an apartment there now, and I love being based there. There's so much positive energy, not only from my orchestra but from the city itself - people keep going despite everything. And there are so many great restaurants, especially for Indian food!

I’ve also been making time to explore outside the city…I went to Malvern to climb the hills and visit Elgar’s church and grave, which was a very special moment. And I visited Aldeburgh, home to the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts founded by Britten – experiencing that wonderful seacoast first-hand was incredible, and of course I went to his grave in the churchyard too. He and Peter Pears are buried beside one another, and behind and in the middle is Imogen Holst. They all lived together for a time, and I found it very touching that they’re still so close to one another in death.

I felt something very special at Malvern and Aldeburgh – God is there, or maybe it’s ‘gods’ plural…British nature is somehow very connected to the divine, and it’s a bit similar to Japanese culture where we have gods in the wind, the trees and the water. I sense all of that at Malvern and Aldeburgh, and it’s partly why English music is so special to me - that connection with nature and the divine. Yours is a very special country.

I think our cultures share a certain sensibility, which is best expressed by an Italian word that’s associated with one particular Englishman: Nobilmente, which Elgar very often used! We both have royal families, although our system is a little bit different from yours. We’re both island countries, and maybe that little bit of distance and the presence of the sea also connect us in some way. And of course we both drive on the left! It sounds like a small thing, but it's just one of many strange similarities.

Do you have plans to explore more British repertoire with the CBSO?

Watch this space! We did Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius at the beginning of the season, and I want to programme his Second Symphony at some point as well as doing more Britten. Britten was very influenced by Japanese culture and Noh theatre, so that could be interesting for me to explore…