RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
A masterful return.
By Michael Bonner
12
MILAN
9/10
Towering ivories: Sakamoto in December 2022
ON December 11, 2022, Ryuichi Sakamoto returned to public performance after an absence of two years. Recorded at Tokyo’s prestigious 509 Studio and streamed online, Playing The Piano 2022 found Sakamoto dressed in black, hunched over his grand piano, playing a selection of music from throughout his career. It brought into focus the Sakamoto we’re most familiar with – the artist in communion with his instrument of choice, playing music that is both delicate and fluid. But Sakamoto has travelled far and wide since his beginnings in the late ’70s with the pioneering techno-pop trio the Yellow Magic Orchestra – his work has encompassed Oscar-winning film soundtracks, critical electronic touchstones like “Riot In Lagos”, aesthetically heightened piano compositions and, as a tireless collaborator, he has recorded with everyone from David Sylvian to Caetano Veloso and Austrian digital adventurer Christian Fennesz.