W. A. Mozart: Requiem / Japanese songs

• Conductor: Yu Miyadera
• Soloists: Yukiko Kinjo Šrejmová, Kateřina Jalovcová, Josef Moravec, Pavel Švingr
• PSO Orchestr and Choir
• Haruka Women’s Chorus

The 2008/2009 season will be topped off by a performance, involving Prague State Opera soloists, orchestra and chorus, of Mozart’s celebrated Requiem. The company’s own forces will be augmented by guests from Japan: the Haruka Women’s Chorus, which will add to the programme its own contribution, a miscellany of Japanese songs on the theme of the four seasons, entitled Furusato no Shiki, arranged by Shunichiro Genda. The songs, dating from the period between 1897 and 1947, extoll the beauties of the Japanese countryside and culture, and universal love. They are widely popular in Japan. The baton will be in the hand of Yu Miyadera, principal conductor of the Saitama Chuo Philharmonic Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Haruka Women’s Chorus. He previously led performances of Mozart’s Requiem, and Symphony No. 25 in G minor, conducting the PSO orchestra at Tokyo’s Saitama-shi Bunka Centre, on Nov 14, 2007, at the end of the PSO’s Japanese tour.