NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo

The NHK Symphony Orchestra, a broadcast orchestra affiliated to Japanese radio and television, prides itself on its reputation as the finest orchestra in Asia with a tradition spanning almost one hundred years, incorporating concerts with the likes of Herbert von Karajan, Igor Stravinsky and Lovro von Matačić. The orchestra has likewise been headed by such illustrious figures as Herbert Blomstedt, Wolfgang Sawallisch, André Previn and Paavo Järvi. All of them have shaped the sound of an ensemble whose performance was described by the British daily The Guardian as “fabulously disciplined, crisp and purposeful, and yet also expressive…” The NHK Symphony Orchestra will appear at the Prague Spring with its current Chief Conductor Fabio Luisi, joining violinist Akiko Suwanai in a programme uniting the music of Johannes Brahms, Alban Berg and a classic of Japanese composition, Tōru Takemitsu.