Kanagawa Prefectural Hall 40th Anniversary ｜Recommendation for Opera "Kinkakuji"

Yukio Mishima's representative novel "Kinkakuji"

Speaking of Kinkakuji, it is a sightseeing spot that represents Kyoto! There may be many people who have memories of visiting on school excursions or trips to Kyoto. The official name is Rokuonji, and it is generally called Kinkakuji because the three-story reliquary hall "Kinkaku" is particularly famous. In fact, Kinkakuji was destroyed by arson in 1950, and what we see today was rebuilt in 1955. Based on the Kinkakuji arson incident, Yukio Mishima's novel "Kinkakuji" was serialized in the magazine "Shincho" for 10 issues in 1956 and received worldwide acclaim.

Now, let's introduce the characters of "Kinkakuji".

Mizoguchi
The main character of this work, a boy who was born with a disability (stuttering in the original, malformed one hand in the opera). This disorder prevents contact with the outside world through the basic act of "speaking words" in life, and increases the fantasies that expand the inner cognitive world. The novel is written in the form of an inner monologue until Mizoguchi sets fire to Kinkakuji.

Uiko
A girl who can be said to be a living symbol of beauty and the opposite sex that Mizoguchi continues to admire forever. Rejecting Mizoguchi, he dies tragically. This is the source of the anguish that Mizoguchi cannot reach even if he seeks it, and it is the beauty that Mizoguchi tried to erase with the Kinkakuji.

Tsurukawa
A friend who gives a warm look to the lonely Mizoguchi, who has decided to live as an apprentice at Kinkakuji after his father passed away. Mizoguchi was the only person to whom he confided his bizarre obsession with Kinkakuji, and if Mizoguchi was the negative of a photograph, Tsurukawa was the positive.

Kashiwagi
Mizoguchi met a classmate who had a physical disability like Mizoguchi, who was recognized by his teacher and went on to college. A demonic man with advanced knowledge and immoral cunning, he takes advantage of his disability to entrap women of high ranks.

"Kinkakuji" is an opera original! Composed by Toshiro Mayuzumi!

After the war, Japan was involved in cultural exchange through opera with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, an opera house in Berlin. As a result, Toshiro Mayuzumi was singled out. In addition, Berlin Deutsche Oper proposed the Kabuki play "Terakoya" and the novel "Kinkakuji" as the opera libretto, and "Kinkakuji" was translated into German and published as one of the representative works of Yukio Mishima, who was also named as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. was selected.

Yukio Mishima
Mishima, who traveled to Paris at the age of 27, was caught in a black market currency exchange and was defrauded of his traveler's check. With only a small amount of money left, he ends up staying at a cheap hotel run by a Japanese for a month. board. Mayuzumi ends up helping Mishima as a guide and interpreter during his stay in Paris.

Toshiro Mayuzumi
A composer who laid the foundations of postwar Japanese music culture with his extraordinary talent. He was a standard-bearer of the avant-garde, releasing the first Japanese work of musique concrète, a type of electronic music that uses sound and recording technology. In later years, with a focus on Japanese materials and an interest in Buddhist music, Mayuzumi composed music full of tension for the opera Kinkakuji, which has strong psychological elements, and had a great impact on the audience. give. He is also famous for being the moderator of the TV program "Untitled Concert" for about 33 years.

Special contents are now available to learn more about Toshiro Mayuzumi!
Commemorating the Performance of Opera “Kinkakuji” – What kind of person is Toshiro Mayuzumi? ? 』
While delving into the 5 "wows" about Toshiro Mayuzumi, we will approach the person.

↓Check here for details!

In 1991, the opera "Kinkakuji" was performed in a reimported language in Japan!

The opera "Kinkakuji" commissioned by Toshiro Mayuzumi from Deutsche Oper Berlin. The librettist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Klaus H. Henneberg, is in charge of the opera libretto. In other words, the pure literary novel "Kinkakuji" written in Japanese was translated into German, and based on that, it was adapted into an opera libretto by a German. It is Kinkakuji. It can be said that the passion of the artists of the era was exchanged through the category of "opera", transcending national borders.

The opera "Kinkakuji" premiered in 1976 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Germany, and in 1991 it premiered in Japan. When it was performed in Japan, it was performed with a Japanese translation by subtitles super, and it was a form of performance in a reimported language.

Kanagawa Kenmin Hall 40th anniversary! Opera "Kinkakuji" will be performed for the first time in 16 years!

Kanagawa Prefectural Hall has continued to produce and perform operas by Japanese composers. The opera "Kinkakuji" composed by Toshiro Mayuzumi, who was born in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was selected for the 40th anniversary of the museum's opening. The long-awaited performance in Japan for the first time in 16 years! Conductor Tatsuya Shimono, director Satoshi Taoshita, and performers Teruhiko Komori and Masukitsu Miyamoto are the main performers. Don't miss the special performance for 2 days only!

The staff and cast who are active in Japan and overseas. Expectations are rising to see what kind of enthusiastic performance will be shown at the opera "Kinkakuji"!

How was the world of the opera "Kinkakuji"?
You can enjoy the original novel by Yukio Mishima, or the music world of Toshiro Mayuzumi.
Please touch the one and only world view with your sensitivity!

Text: Miyoko Inoue (CLIMBERS)
Illustration: Tamako Kubota