Dear melomaniac, full of honor I am letting you know that the last disc of Ryuichi Sakamoto called simply “Opus” was recently launched. The disc is the audio version of the video-event-concert with the same name released in 2023.
The genial and immense Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Japanese composer, pianist, record producer and actor who left a significant legacy on this earth. Mr. Sakamoto composed musical scores for movies like The Last Emperor (1987), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), The Sheltering Sky (1990) and The Revenant (2015). Between 1978 and 2023 he recorded 21 albums, starting with Thousand Knives (1978) and finishing with the magical “12” (2023). Here is a picture showing us a young Ryuichi:
12 was not the last we heard of Ryuichi, as another disc was released post-mortem – “Opus”. This one was recorded at Ryuichi’s last concert, a piece of legacy that he left behind. You see, dear melomaniac, Ryuichi was battling cancer for years, and public appearances and especially concerts were out of the question, he was supposed to have only a few years left with no efforts allowed.
However, at his personal effort and request, one last movie-concert was recorded, just Ryuichi and his piano playing his best pieces one last time. Opus was recorded in late 2022 at Studio 509, NHK Broadcasting Center, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The movie-concert was launched in 2023 at the 80th Venice Film Festival and was directed by Neo Sora.
You can also see below a picture from the actual recording session:
“Opus” is terribly intimate and features a stripped-down crying Ryuichi Sakamoto that is writing with musical notes a bequest that he wants to leave behind. The music on this disc cannot carry words as it does not need any. The music is sad, the same as Ryuichi’s ending, but, nevertheless, leaves us with our hearts flying – thinking that we are all people that will eventually die, and we need to take Ryuichi’s example and not sit and wait for death to come, but to fill this remaining time with a meaningful last act.
This is exactly what “Opus” is, one last meaningful act from Ryuichi Sakamoto. Ryuichi passed shortly after this recording session. Let’s honor his memory and musical legacy by listening together with our hearts flying as he wanted to:
