A celebration of an artist's life in the purest sense, Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is the definitive swan song of the beloved Oscar and Grammy winning Japanese pianist who said that the film “was conceived as a way to record my performances - while I was still able to perform - in a way that is worth preserving for the future.” And Opus is just that. Created by a team that included Ryuichi Sakamoto, his son Neo Sora as director, his wife Norika Sora as a producer and longtime collaborator Jeremy Thomas as executive producer, the film is a beautiful, moving testament to the late maestro’s life and work. It is a concert film that is so intimately and expertly shot with extraordinary closeups on the composer’s face and hands and with such incredible sound that viewers will feel they are in the studio on the stage with Sakamoto.
Twenty pieces, five decades, one performance, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Opusfeatures award-winning music from Bernardo Bertolucci’s Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant, among other seminal scores and piano compositions, in his last performance.
On March 28th, 2023, legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away after a long illness. In the years leading up to his death, Sakamoto could no longer perform live. Single concerts, not to mention sprawling global tours, were too taxing. Despite this, in late 2022, Sakamoto mustered all his energy to leave the world with one final performance: a concert film, featuring just him and his piano.
Curated by Sakamoto himself and presented in his chosen order, the twenty pieces performed in the film wordlessly narrate his life through his music. The selection spans his entire career, from his popstar Yellow Magic Orchestra period, to his magnificent Bertolucci film scores, to music from his meditative final album, 12. Intimately filmed in a space he knew well, surrounded by his most trusted collaborators, Sakamoto bares his soul through his music, knowing that this would likely be his last chance to present his art.
Ryuichi Sakamoto sets the scene of his remarkable final performance in Tokyo’s NHK Broadcast Center’s 509 Studio: “Heading the large crew of nearly 30 people was cinematographer Bill Kirstein, who traveled from the U.S. to shoot the film using three 4K cameras. As for me, I went into the shoot a little nervous, thinking this might be my last chance to share my performance with everyone in this way. We recorded a few songs a day with a lot of care. I played some pieces that I had never played as solo piano performances, such as “The Wuthering Heights”(1992) and “Ichimei - small happiness” (2011). I played “Tong Poo” in a new arrangement at a slower tempo than I’ve ever
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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has once again been crowned the busiest airport in the world, serving a whopping 104.6 million travelers in 2023. The Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, published its annual rankings on Monday. Most notably, Atlanta’s international airport saw an 11.7% increase in traffic from the previous year when it also ranked as the busiest airport in the world. The demand for domestic flights remained robust, with ACI’s report indicating a recovery of 96.8% of the 2019 passenger traffic level. However, the most encouraging trend was the resurgence of international air travel, which experienced a robust 36.5% growth and welcomed 90.4% of passengers from pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
International travel is back. In 2023, the number of global air passengers reached nearly 8.5 billion, or 27 percent above 2022 levels, and 94 percent when compared to 2019 figures, according to Airports Council International (ACI).
Denver’s new Populus hotel, opening this summer, aims to be a “carbon-positive” hotel and an example of environmentally conscious hospitality. But two things make this hotel stand out: Populus plans to do this without buying carbon credits or focusing on LEED certifications.
Asian and Pacific Islander people have played a profoundly significant role in shaping American history, contributing to the rich heritage of the United States in countless ways.
For the first time ever, the profound and mystical journey of wild Pacific salmon will swim into IMAX and other giant-screen theaters around the world late next year. The new film in production from a team of seasoned large format veterans will be set in one of the Earth’s wildest, most pristine, and threatened places – the stunning mountainous river systems of the North Pacific. Wild salmon are some of the planet’s most valuable species, often approaching $1 billion in economic output annually in Alaska alone.
California residents have a new option for a weekend getaway to Las Vegas. This week, discount airline Avelo launched a new route from LA’s Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS). In celebration of the new route, the airline is offering introductory one-way fares for $57. The new flight route begins next month on May 3 just in time for Memorial Day holiday weekend and the summer travel season.