John Williams: A Legacy In Sound

Good evening.

- I-- -

- - I am very happy to be here with you...

...in Tokyo.

I have not been here for 30 years.

And I come back now and my impression is that

the city is more beautiful than it was as I remember then.

Beautifully built up with wonderful ideas and how to space buildings

and all the wonderful things you've done to make this.

And also now,

I have the pleasure of conducting Saito Kinen Orchestra.

Which you've heard already, how wonderful it is.

- The orchestra... -

I particularly wanted to come to Japan to see my old friend Seiji Ozawa.

And I went with Seiji, two to three days ago, to Matsumoto.

We did a fantastic concert with Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra.

I was so moved to see Seiji.

We love him so much.

He was music director in Boston for so many years.

And 1980, Seiji gave me the job to conduct the orchestra in Boston.

So I'm very grateful to him.

So, we will begin with three pieces from Harry Potter .

But before that, I would like to play, with the orchestra, "Superman."

Because if you translate "Superman" from English back into Japanese,

"Superman" means Seiji Ozawa.