Venue: Kanagawa Kenmin Hall, Yokohama

I’ve heard the Japan Philharmonic on several occasions in the past, but this was the first time with Inkinen, and the difference was startling. In previous encounters with this orchestra I noted a rather bright, at times even glaring sound. No longer. Inkinen has instilled instead a generously warm, even, glowing sonority and depth of sound that one hears in Europe’s finest ensembles.