Impressive Rudolf Serkin

The first time that Tomoko was completely impressed with a performance was due to Rudolf Serkin.

Serkin was born on March 28, 1903, in Eger, Bohemia. He read music before he could read words, thanks to his singer father. Rudolf started his professional study at the age of nine, in Vienna, and debuted publicly there just three years later. Rudolf studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg starting in 1918, and began his professional concert career with violinist Adolf Busch’s ensemble in 1920.

In 1936 Serkin performed to great aplomb with the New York Philharmonic and Arturo Toscanini, and three years later Serkin and Busch’s family immigrated permanently to the United States. Serkin taught piano at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, and became the institute’s director. Adolf and Serkin also started the Marlboro (Vermont) Music School and Festival to promote chamber music in the U.S. Serkin was also known for his interpretation of Beethoven. Because of his work, including memorable recordings, Serkin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.

Serkin impressed Tomoko too. He came to Japan in the 1950s. Tomoko attended one of his concerts, able to pay for one of the cheapest seats. Tomoko listen to Schubert’s Opus 15 Wanderer Fantasy, and tears came to her eyes.  “It was the most gorgeous feeling in the whole world,” Tomoko remembers.  “Tears are the most valuable and authentic emotion.” Tomoko thought, “This is what an artist is supposed to do,” Tomoko shares her experience with her students. “His performance was perfect; beyond works, beyond the technical.” That’s what Tomoko wants for her students and herself.

Serkin’s inspiration continues.   

The Musical Soul of Europe

Tomoko has always had an eye on European music, which is not surprising. The Germans were particularly prominent in the early 20^th century, several of whom resided in Japan and lectured at the Tokyo School of Music. On their part, some Japanese composers were intrigued by Western art music, and incorporated those tonalities into their pieces.

Europe has always been part of Tomoko's musical soul. Even before staring school, classical European music was part of early family experience as her mother sang hymns, her father played violin, and they listened to classics on the radio.

As part of her schooling Tomoko remembered the importance of children’s songs. In the late 19^th century, the Japanese Ministry of Education reformed  music education by developing a music textbook that included Europe and American hymns and folk songs set to Japanese lyrics. Tomoko and her peers regularly sang these songs, which taught moral behavior and national pride.

During the war, Japan was largely isolated from the Western musical world, but the reputation of European music endured. Tomoko remembered attending a concert of Bohemian pianist Rudolph Serkin the early 1950s; “It was the most gorgeous feeling in the world.” Tomoko yearned to enter that society.

It wasn’t until 1967, though, that she had that opportunity. Her first flight to Europe was made possible through support of friends associated with the Conservatory of San Francisco. Tomoko took a chartered plan from Oakland to Frankfurt, where she performed and networked with musical illuminaries. Later that year she participated in the Long-Thibaud International Piano Competition and Paris, and in the following year she performed at the Queen Elizabeth International Musical Competition in Brussels.

Even after Tomoko curtailed competing internationally, she touristed in Europe, taking advantage of the long legacy of music. She visited Beethoven’s Viennese home, played an antique harpsichord in a Medici house, and perform Chopin’s Raindrops Prelude in Majorca in the museum dedicated to him.

Tomoko’s personal life also incorporated Europe. In Salzburg Tomoko married her husband, Desy Handra, who was an Hungarian medical doctor. And it was in Europe twenty years later that Tomoko helped her daughter navigate the international competitive skating scene.

Europe has served as a cultural gateway to music for Tomoko, which she passes onto her students, some of whom are Europeans themselves.