THE
INSTIGATOR
Art & Culture magazine
NEWS
VIDEO (London) / "Kagami" by Ryuichi Sakamoto - directed by Todd Eckert Tin Drum / Video © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander
PHOTO (Osaka) / "Kagami" by Ryuichi Sakamoto - directed by Todd Eckert Tin Drum / Photo and Video © Courtesy of Tin Drum New York
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
KAGAMI+
DIRECTED BY TODD ECKERT
TIN DRUM
NEW YORK
MANCHESTER
LONDON
TAIPEI
SINGAPORE
SYDNEY
MELBOURNE
ITALY
HONG KONG
OSAKA
KAGAMI+
THE UNSTOPPABLE
JOURNEY
Following the immense success at the SHED in New York, at the MIF Manchester International Festival, and at the Roundhouse in London, in 2023, followed by Taipei, Singapore, Melbourne, Italy and Hong Kong, late Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano returns to Japan, to Osaka in KAGAMI+, with a unique, expanded version of mixed-reality performance, directed by Todd Eckert of Tin Drum, New York.
Eckert always knows how to surprise us. He used a unique process of 48 cameras to capture a solo piano performance traversing Sakamoto’s decades-long career. The recording took over three days and created a horrendous amount of data that needed five months to process. Eckert introduced a technology that had never been seen before, mixing Sakamoto’s dimensional virtual performance with the real world by using cinematographic MR mixed-reality, a view of the real-physical world with an overlay of digital elements, where physical and digital sequences interacted.
Sakamoto’s unstoppable energy and an enormous heart went silent in March 2023, at the age of 71.
During the performance, the composer appears through special optical glasses and headsets with striking photorealistic clarity, close enough to touch his piano.
A must-see production!
“Kagami” by Ryuichi Sakamoto / Venue VS. / Grand Green Osaka (Japan)
27 June – 12 October 2026
“Kagami” by Ryuichi Sakamoto / Roundhouse, London (UK)
29 December 2023 - 21 January 2024
“Kagami” by Ryuichi Sakamoto / The Shad, New York (USA)
7 June - 2 July 2023
KAGAMI+
SAKAMOTO
PHOTO / VIDEO / "Diamond" by Fantastic Mr Marcel / Photo © Courtesy of Joseph Lewiston and Fantastic Mr Marcel
FANTASTIC
MR MARCEL
LONDON
DIAMOND
London-based singer-songwriter Fantastic Mr Marcel crafts his cinematically inspired, smooth R&B music to move both emotions and imagination. The music blends the intimate, evocative lyrics with genre-bending production, shaping a sound that pulls from indie, electronica, and R&B, whilst remaining unmistakably his own.
“My writing starts from inside a film scene, stepping into a character, inhabiting the moment, and painting the picture with words until it becomes a song.” Fantastic Mr Marcel
His latest release, Diamond, is an emotionally driven song about self-worth, resilience, and recognising one’s values even when others overlook them. Built around soulful melodies, atmospheric production, and confident vocal delivery, he paired with rap musician ARXIVN to blend modern R&B and RAP textures with uplifting energy, creating a track that feels both vulnerable and empowering.
“Diamond” 2026
Composed by Fantastic Mr Marcel
Performed by Fantastic Mr Marcel (feat. ARXIVN)
Produced by Colin Lanz / London (UK)
PHOTO / Potrait of György Kurtàg / Photo © Courtesy of Balázs Mohai
GYÖRGY KURTÁG
LA SCAM
PARIS
KURTAG100
MATCHSTICK MAN
L’HOMME ALLUMETTE
La Scam in Paris celebrated the 100th anniversary of one of the most significant Hungarian pianists and composers, György Kurtág, with a film projection of The Matchstick Man / L’Homme Allumette directed by Judit Kele.
She was not a film director at the time, but an artist who understood perfectly well the controversial life, the upheavals, and the complexity of another artist.
Kurtág's international recognition began to grow in 1981 in Paris, with the premiere of Messages of the Late Miss R.V.Troussova. He has written orchestral works and operas, and performed at La Scala in Milan, with the Berlin Philharmonic, also at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Cité de la Musique, and the Festival d'Automne,
in Paris. For decades, he and his wife gave recitals on one piano and performed together for 60 years.
The most extreme of all is his piano piece Flowers We Are, Mere Flowers, which consists of just seven notes.
THE INSTIGATOR asked artist, film director Judit Kele about her film and the composer. She passionately explained. (To read the full article - Click on red circle)
“Matchstick Man / L’Homme Allumette ”
A film directed by Judit Kele
La Scam, Paris (France)
2 June 2026
PHOTO / "La Traviata" by Verdi at the Musés Jacquemart-André / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander
VERDI
LA TRAVIATA
MUSÉE JACQUEMART-ANDRÉ
PARIS
LA TRAVIATA
Following the great success of Verdi’s Rigoletto, in June, the lyrical repertoire of the museum continues with Verdi’s La Traviata.
The Musée Jacquemart-André is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful private mansions in the city. Formerly the residence of Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart, the museum houses a remarkable art collection and offers an exceptional setting for operas in the intimacy of its historic 19th-century salons.
When the museum closes, the private salons open in mid-summer obscurity for a handful of guests. La Traviata brought an unforgettable evening to the museum, a love-story-drama of Violetta and Alfredo.
La Traviata is a tragic opera in three acts that follows Violetta (Aurélie Loilier, soprano), a sophisticated, high-class courtesan of 19th-century Paris, and her nobleman lover Alfredo (Yu Shao, tenor). The third character is Germont, (Marc Souchet, baryton), Alfredo’s old-fashioned father, the example of morality and public perception, who highly disapproves of his son's dissolute life with Violetta.
The opera reflects the prejudices of Verdi's own age, and maybe that makes the story of La Traviata very relevant today in our extremely judgmental society.
The Musée Jacquemart-André, for the second consecutive year, will house the Paris Opera Festival with French and international artists from the music scene.
What could be a better place to discover operas than on this magical journey at the Musée Jacquemart-André?
“La Traviata” / Verdi
Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris (France)
27 June 2026
Paris Opera Festival
A journey to Italy with “Così Fan Tutte” and “L’Elisir d’Amore”
2 July 2026
Live the Italian Passion with “Lucia di Lammermoor“ and “Turandot”
4 July 2026
Discover Spain through “Carmen” and “Don Giovanni”
9 July 2026
Viennese Night with Mozart and Strauss
11 July 2026
PHOTO / "7 Deaths of Maria Callas" Marina Abramovic Willem Dafoe Sophie Bevan - ENO The London Coliseum / Photo © Courtesy of Tristram Kenton
MARINA
ABRAMOVIĆ
ENO / THE LONDON COLISEUM
LONDON
7 DEATHS OF MARIAS CALLAS
Following the great success of “7 Deaths of Maria Callas” installation at Lisson Gallery London, in 202, contemporary artist Marina Abramovic, during CALLAS100, paid tribute to the Italian Diva and staged her seven opera pieces at The London Coliseum ENO.
Abramović in bed on stage, eyes shut. She is Callas, dreaming in her deathbed of celebrated operas’ death scenes.
For each scene, an aria is performed by seven opera singers. The background, a full-size giant video projection - mostly slow-motion and all exquisitely shot for the performance – shows an imagined scene starring Abramović as Callas, with murderous cameos by Willem Dafoe. The performance has visually everything one would expect from a contemporary opera scene,
This unique production recreates seven of Maria Callas’s most powerful soprano arias from works by Bellini, Bizet, Donizetti, Puccini and Verdi. The show ends in a Paris hotel room, where Callas died in 1977, with her singing Casta Diva, to which Abramović acts with a voiceover.
“Vissi d’arte, Vissi d’amore” /
“I have lived for art, I have lived for love.”
“7 Deaths of Maria Callas” by Marina Abramovic / Coliseum, ENO English National Opera, London (UK)
3- 11 November 2023
7
DEATHS OF MARIA CALLAS /
MADAME ARTHUR
In a small street of Pigalle, Madame Arthur, a renowned cabaret from the late 40s, rolls out the red carpet for actor, cabaret singer Romain Brau.
As always, he has full control on his audience, and a master proficiency with his performance. Brau is liberating, and he is a breath of fresh air. He sings, interacts with his audience, and there is no escape from his charm, killing humour, and fabulous madness.
Here is a glimpse of his flamboyant aura at Madame Arthur. How dull Paris would be without him?
Madame Arthur / Romain Brau / Paris (France)
26 January - 27 April 2024
ROMAIN
BRAU
MADAME ARTHUR
PARIS
PHOTO / Romain Brau on stage at Madame Arthur / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander
VIDEO / Vivaldi "Stabat Mater" directed by Sebastian Pańczyk featuring Jakub Jozef Orlinski / Video © Courtesy of Warner Classics & Erato
JAKUB
JÓZEF
ORLIŃSKI
VIVALDI
STABAT MATER
OPERA MEETS FILM
6 MINUTES OF EMPATHY
A magical world where opera meets film. Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater performed by countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and the Capella Cracoviensis, was sent to us by Warner Classics & Erato 2022.
“The common denominator of the music and story presented in the film is empathy,” director Sebastian Pańczyk explains. “
The story is an attempt to reinterpret the symbolic Stabat Mater figure and contemplate empathy in this atypical form and experimental feature narrative.”
The lead character, after experiencing a tragedy, falls into lethargy. The story talks about the path of empathy and forgiveness. The film has a very illustrative structure; there are no dialogues or text. It is all about energy rather than performance.
"Already, during my studies, my teacher Anna Radziejewska gave me fragments of Vivaldi's Stabat Mater to sing. Then I had the opportunity to play them with various orchestras, with the piano alone. I performed them many times over the course of 10 years," recalls Orliński.
"With each performance, a new idea arises, a new thought that results from our lives and what is happening in the world. I filter the music through them, then the interpretation is created."
From the 11th to the 16th century, Stabat Mater was sung during the holy mass. It was also developed by Renaissance composers such as Josquin dés Prés, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Baroque composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, and later by Joseph Haydn and Antoni Dvořák.
In addition to Orliński’s performance, the film features Capella Cracoviensis, Michalina Olszańska, Marek Dyjak, Jacek Beler and Kinga Jasik.
“Stabat Mater” by Vivaldi
Directed by Sebastian Pańczyk
Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński
© Released by Warner Classics & Erato 2022
PHOTO / Ryuichi Sakamoto portrait / Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Ruffin
RYUICHI
SAKAMOTO
ARS LONGA
VITA BREVIS
TOKYO
HOMMAGE TO
RYICHI SAKAMOTO
ARS LONGA
VITA BREVIS
Leaving this space empty would have been just as respectful and appropriate. A genius does not need adjectives. For those who are maybe not so familiar with his work, Oscar-winning Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who created the original scores for Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor," “The Sheltering Sky,” “Little Buddha,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu's "The Revenant," and collaborated with musicians including David Bowie, David Sylvian, and David Byrne.
He was also known as a member of the electronic, techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra with Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono. They became trailblazers of the electronic music genre. The statement from his record label Commmons notes: “Sakamoto-san continued to create music in his home studio whenever his health would allow it. He lived with music until the very end."
"The Last Emperor" swept the Oscars in 1988, winning in every category including Best Original Score, for which Sakamoto was nominated alongside collaborators David Byrne and Cong Su. "The Revenant" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, also led the pack at the 2016 Academy Awards, nominated in twelve categories and winning three.
"Art is not a static part of culture, but flexible, changing, and interpretative. True creativity is making something entirely new. Something revolutionary and something destructive," His favourite sayings was "Ars longa, vita brevis / Art is long, life is short."
His music was incredible, experimental, and revolutionary. The tapestry was so cool, some didn't understand who did what, but this was the plan. To blend the sounds of nature and the complexity of nature with no way to understand what is what. The complexity of that tapestry in concert is not accidental. Sakamoto composed scores for more than 40 films in total. He was an actor, singer, producer, writer and antinuclear activist.
"I honestly don't know how many years I have left," the musician said recently. "It could be 20 years, 10, or a relapse reduces it to just one. I'm not taking anything for granted. But I know that I want to make more music. Music that I won't be ashamed to leave behind — meaningful work." Ryuichi Sakamoto
What a beautiful man, what a beautiful person.
Sensei, thank you.
"Ars longa, Vita Brevis" Ryuichi Sakamoto / Tokyo (Japan)
Died at the age of 71, March 2023
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