It felt as if this would never happen. Film fans waited so long to see Joe Hisaishi play his Studio Ghibli music live in London that tickets were bought when global pandemics only existed in sci-fi movies. This string of gigs in the UK was first moved due to Covid. Then it was moved again (still the pandemic), then again when Hisaishi was sick (with Covid, obviously). Tonight people are joking about it in their seats: is he actually going to show up?
The spritely 72-year-old musical director is extremely present though, breaking into smiles and winks as he takes the audience through a two-hour highlight reel of his soundtracks, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus (with vocal soloists Grace Davidson and Ella Taylor). Hisaishi is to Studio Ghibli director, Hayao Miyazaki, what Danny Elfman is to Tim Burton, or John Williams is to Spielberg: a tight forever-collaborator (he has written the scores for all but one of the Ghibli films).
