5 questions for Mari Fukumoto

Interview: Ivana Rajič

Mari Fukumoto consistently captivates as a multi-award winning organist with her exceptional programmes and fascinating discoveries. On 14 June, she takes the audience in the Grand Hall along on a musical journey through our solar system and combines the colourful sonic miniatures of Louis Vierne with Gustav Holst’s monumental cycle »The Planets« in the organ arrangement by Peter Sykes. In so doing, the organ appears as an astonishingly versatile instrument: sometimes, soaring and diaphanous; at other times, orchestral and powerful. Vierne’s impressionistic soundscapes encounter Holst’s visionary glimpse into space – and create an evening in-between delicate sonic poetry and grand musical gesture.

Ms Fukumoto, you play a solo concert on the organ at the Elbphilharmonie in June. How did you arrive at this exceptional programme which musically glimpses into space?

The inspiration was in fact the room itself. The Elbphilharmonie seems very stark and vivid – and this is exactly why it is incredibly inspiring. People often associate organs with church spaces, with many visual elements, with specific stories – many pieces were also created for such spaces. This is quite different at the Elbphilharmonie. A lot of space for your own imagination is generated there. This resulted in the following question for me: what suits this space? And this led to the idea of a programme about stars, the sky and the universe, which hails its premiere in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie.

Alongside Gustav Holst’s famous orchestral suite »The Planets«, works by the rarely performed Louis Vierne are on the programme. What led you to this French organist and composer?

Once the topic was established, I searched for suitable pieces. Vierne wrote many short works, which – undoubtedly inspired by Schumann – have very different characters. What fascinates me about him is how strongly his music is shaped by concepts of nature – of the sun, moon, fire. Although people had completely different perceptions of the universe at that time than we do today, this music blends in amazingly well with our present view. With Holst, on the other hand, there are these floating, perpetually changing personalities, which do not let you stay on the earth, but consistently move you weightlessly.

What role does your own imagination play in this – how do you as a musician embark on this »journey through space«, solely with your ears?

I am a very emotional person myself and am often – in concert, in the theatre or even in everyday life – mentally on the move. It is not crucial for me whether I have something specific in mind or whether everything plays out in my head. This internal flow is quite naturally part of music-making for me.

And how do you convey this to the audience?

As a musician, I can provide the audience with this very openness: the possibility of switching off and entering another world solely via the sound. I am convinced that this journey works even without visual images – just by listening. The Elbphilharmonie encourages this of course with its exceptional spaciousness, which almost has the touch of a spaceship for me. But it is more likely helpful than essential to break away from everyday life and to fully engage with the concert experience.

If this concert is conceived as a musical journey through the infinite universe – where can such an evening come to its end?

This programme tends to pose an open question at the end. The topics of the starry sky and the universe are incredibly inspiring and there is so much music related to this. Consequently, I actually reflect upon whether and what you could prepare as an encore – maybe even something which makes the audience laugh.