Articles about "Aruhaha no monogatari" appearing in Japanese press, spring 2005. Translations by Shirahama Sachiko Article 1 Fuji Sankei Business i Danish opera and Japanese Noh are integrated A musical drama “The story of a mother”, where Japanese Noh, Danish opera and electronic music are blended, will be presented at EXPO 2005 Aichi, Japan on April 20. The theater will be brought to Denmark in December. What stage it will be like? Just before the EXPO stage, I’ve had a chance to enjoy the performance at the Umewaka Noh Theater in Nakano, Tokyo. (Written by Iida Koji) Musical theater originally written by H. C. Andersen In this musical drama, the Noh actor plays on a stage with the opera singers and the Noh chorus group singing in Danish in an innovative attempt. “Most exciting is what will be produced by the encounter of opera and Noh, different cultures both with more than 400-year history” said Mr. Jakob Draminsky, the composer of the drama. While Mr. Tsumura Reijiro, the Noh actor taking part of Mother, plays in Japanese language in accordance with ma, a Japanese concept of an interval in time or space, the opera singers, Ms. Christine Schott and Mr. Niels Pihl, sing the songs in the opera style in Danish. The Noh chorus group sings Utai, the vocal part of Noh, in the full traditional Noh style except for the language, Danish. The two quite foreign languages will encounter and mix to produce a unique world. There are differences in how to express the roles’ feelings between the two drama styles. “In Noh we put no sentiment in our voices, which is quite different from Danish opera.” Said Mr. Tsumura. In Now explicit expressions are avoided. As for this musical drama, what Mr. Draminsky wants and Mr. Tsumura wants sometimes conflicted because the former thinks Mother’s feeling needs to be clearly presented where the latter doesn’t think it should be so. There are, however, many common traits. Mr. Tsumura reflected, “It is a great contribution to the drama that Danish and Japanese languages are in good harmony. I have once tried with English but it was a complete failure. Maybe the stiff sound of Danish is a merit”. Before performance of this drama, the story is read to the audience. You are advised to compare the two languages to find what is common. --------- “The story of a mother” is originally written by H. C. Andersen (1805-75), known for many stories including “The Little Mermaid” and “The Little Match Girl”. The music drama performance in Japan is part of the worldwide celebration of the 200th anniversary of Andersen. Among Danish companies known in Japan are jewel maker Georg Jensen, popular toy block LEGO as well as MAN B&W, manufacturer of computerized diesel engines for ships. Export to Japan from Denmark was 275.5 billion Yen in 2003 increased by1.4% from the previous year and nearly by 50% from 5 years ago. On the other hand, what Japanese products are famous in Denmark? “Playstation and Sushi” said Mr. Draminsky. The cross-cultural meeting of opera and Noh will set a new bridge between the two countries. (The enclosed article at lower right) You can access the musical drama of Noh and Danish opera via the Internet with mobile phones compatible with Chaku-uta of au, i-motion of Docomo as well as with the ST code at left. How to access: [In case of mobile phones compatible with ST code] 1. Download the application “ST code reader” for utilizing ST codes from http://emkn.com. 2. Start the application and display the ST code in the screen. 3. The URL is displayed. Press the OK button to access the sound page. [In case of mobile phones compatible with Chaku-uta or i-motion] Enter http://emkn.com/fbi in the screen and press the OK button to access the sound page. (The enclosed article at lower left) The story of a mother: A short tale about a young mother who travels to see Death to get back her lost child. She finally reaches the garden house of Death, having given up everything including her eyes and hair in exchange for information about her child. In this garden under the order of God, Death is taking care of flowers, each of which is a human life. The mother tries to get back her child… Article 2 The Mainichi Newspapers The 200th anniversary of the birth of Andersen Written by Takahashi Yutaka There are some stories that move grown-ups a greater deal than children, while originally written for the latter. The stories written by H.C. Andersen, the Danish poet and writer for stories for children, are ones of them. Every time of my repeated reading of "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling" or "The Little Match Girl", I have found something new. The 200th anniversary of his birth, the May 2nd of this year, was celebrated with various events worldwide including Japan. Japanese and Danish artists jointly worked on one of the Andersen’s tales, “The story of a mother”, at the Umewaka Noh Theater in Tokyo. Backed by the electronic music composed by J. D. Hojmark, the Noh actor Tsumura Reijiro took the part of Mother as shite, the protagonist, and the Danish opera singers, of Death and others as waki, deuteragonist. The story is about a young mother who travels to the garden house of Death to get back her dead child, with the theme of which we are familiar through Sumidagawa, one of the famous repertories of Noh. Including the Jiutai, the vocal part of Noh, the performance was all presented in Danish, except for the Mother part performed in Japanese, which naturally brought us to the trip to the alien domain. The stage was a very successful example of attempts for cross-cultural meeting and will be presented again at EXPO 2005 Aichi on May 20 and also in Denmark in November. As one of the anniversary events, the book “Andersen’s salt” written by the Danish writer Johannes Møllehave and translated into Japanese by Ootsuka Ayako was issued. The book title is taken from Andersen’s saying, “Humour is the salt of my tales for seasoning”. Møllehave analyses that the hidden humor is the secret of the unwavering popularity of Andersen’s works. Andersen wrote more than 150. I’d like to read them aloud. I’d like to listen to someone reading them. Article 3 Sankei Newspaper Noh/Opera/Modern Music Different cultures blending in A musical drama “The story of a mother”, where Japanese Noh, Danish opera and modern music are blended, will be presented at the Umewaka Noh Theater in Higashi-Nakano, Tokyo, on April 7. In this drama, the Noh actor plays on a stage with the opera singers and the Noh chorus group singing in Danish in an innovative attempt. “It’s very exciting that the two different traditions and cultures encounter”, says Jakob Draminsky, the composer and writer of the drama based on a tale of Andersen. Tsumura Reijiro takes the role of Mother, traveling in search for her lost child, and the alto-singer Kaja Pihl, Night and Old Woman, standing in Mother’s way, and her husband and baritone-singer Niels Pihl, Death. Tsumura plays in Japanese with Noh mask and costume, while in Danish the Pihls in traditional European costume and Nakasho Nobuo, the leader of Utai, the vocal part telling the story of Noh, are singing. This performance is made in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Andersen, known for “The Little Match Girl”, "The Ugly Duckling" and more, to which Jakob asked his friends Tsumura and the Pihls to join. Jakob said, “I want to present a work with diverse elements and with the different cultures. Imagining what will be produced from the work excites me. I wished I could give the performance at a Noh stage in Japan” and his wish has come true. The performance will be brought to Copenhagen and other sites in this fall. “ This is a work Jakob picked out in order for I and the Pihls to perform together. It should be an intriguing stage where different values encounter ” said Tsumura At the stage before the musical drama, Sumidagawa, one of major Noh dance repertories, that has the theme common with the drama, Andersen songs and reading of the Andersen’s tale will be presented. (Written by Ikuta Makoto) Article 4 The Mainichi Newspapers Stage: The story of a mother The bond between a mother and her child At Umewaka Noh theater, April 7 “The story of a mother”, a stage featuring Noh, opera and modern music will be presented at Umewaka Noh Theater, Nakano, Tokyo on April 7. The original tale was written by Andersen (1805-1875), known for many stories including "The Little Mermaid" and "Thumbelina". The stage is among the 200th anniversary events of his birth. The Danish opera singers, musician and the Japanese Noh actor will collaboratively present the performance. The story is about a young mother who travels to the garden house of Death to get back her dead child. During the harsh travel, the mother sacrifices herself to get whereabouts of her child. Its theme, life and death, a mother’s affection to her child, is universal among people in different countries and different times. Mr. Tsumura Reijiro, a Noh actor of the Kanze School, plays the part of Mother. The opera singers Mr. Niels Phil and Ms. Kaya Pihl take other roles and Mr. Jakob Draminsky is in charge of the computer music. In December, the drama will be presented in Denmark. Information: Open at 19:00. No reservation needed. Yen 5.000 (advance ticket), Yen5, 500 (day ticket). (Written by Masiko Kaori)