The concert "Numaru Concert" for the NHK Taiga drama "Dear Radiance(Hikaru Kimi e)" starring Yuriko Yoshitaka was held on November 9th at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall: Takemitsu Memorial (Shinjuku, Tokyo), with Yoshitaka, who plays the main character Mahiro (Murasaki Shikibu), and other guests. After listening to all 26 songs including the encore, Yoshitaka said with emotion, "Wow, I'm already addicted."
Yoshitaka expressed her thoughts in her own unique way, saying, "I fell in love with something invisible and intangible (music). Please don't toy with me any more," and commented, "I'm really happy. Thank you." The final episode of "Hikaru Kimi e" will be on December 15th, and she appealed to the audience, saying, "It's sad to think that it will end in six more episodes. I'd be happy if you could see it through to the end."
The concert featured 26 songs, including the theme music "Amethyst," carefully selected from the more than 150 songs composed by music director Fuyuno Yumi for the drama. Yokoyama Kanade conducted the performance, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, pianist Shiotani Satoshi, violinist Nakanishi Toshihiro and others also performed. Ouki Kaname, who played Akasomeemon, served as narrator, and Nakajima Yuki, the chief director, also appeared to talk. 1,600 people packed the venue. The performance will be broadcast on General TV from 5pm on December 8th.
"Dear Radiance" is the 63rd taiga drama. It is set in aristocratic society in the mid-Heian period, and the main character is Murasaki Shikibu (Mahiro), who later wrote "The Tale of Genji," said to be the world's oldest novel written by a woman. The script was written by Oishi Shizuka, who is writing a taiga drama for the second time since "Koumyo ga Tsuji" in 2006, and depicts the glittering world of Heian aristocrats and the life of a woman who lived, wrote and loved with all her heart.
