Masashi Ueda (Masashi Ueda) |

Masashi Ueda

Masashi Ueda is rightfully considered now the leading conductor of Japan, a faithful successor to the work to which his remarkable predecessors, Hidemaro Konoe and Kosaku Yamada, dedicated their lives. After receiving his musical education at the Tokyo Conservatory, Ueda initially worked as a pianist for the Philharmonic Association founded by Yamada and Konoe. And in 1926, when the latter organized the New Symphony Orchestra, the young musician took the place of the first bassoonist in it. All these years, he carefully prepared for the conductor’s profession, took over from his senior comrades all the best – deep knowledge of classical music, interest in Japanese folk art and the possibilities of its implementation in symphonic music. At the same time, Ueda also adopted an ardent love for Russian and Soviet music, which was promoted in Japan by his older colleagues.

In 1945, Ueda became the conductor of a small orchestra owned by a film company. Under his leadership, the team made considerable progress and was soon transformed into the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, headed by Masashi Ueda.

Conducting a large concert and educational work at home, Ueda has been touring abroad more and more often in recent years. Listeners of many European countries are familiar with his art. In 1958, the Japanese conductor also visited the Soviet Union. His concerts featured works by Mozart and Brahms, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, as well as Japanese composers A. Ifukubo and A. Watanabe. Soviet critics highly appreciated the art of the “gifted experienced conductor”, his “subtle lyrical talent, outstanding skill, true sense of style.”

During the days of Ueda’s stay in our country, he was awarded a diploma of the USSR Ministry of Culture for outstanding services in popularizing Russian and especially Soviet music in Japan. The repertoire of the conductor and his orchestra includes almost all symphonic works by S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich, A. Khachaturian and other Soviet authors; many of these pieces were first performed in Japan under Ueda.

L. Grigoriev, J. Platek, 1969