Interview] The soundtrack-only live performance presented by Yuki Kajiura has been long awaited by fans!

Yuki Kajiura LIVE, in which Yuki Kajiura performs her own soundtracks with talented players, will release a CD of the "Yuki Kajiura LIVE TOUR vol.#15 "Soundtrack Special at the Amphitheater" held in June 2019. The live performance held over two days has been reconstructed into a 2-CD set with a total of 36 tracks. The CD will include 36 newly arranged popular songs that can only be heard at the live performances, and can be enjoyed by the audience. We asked them about what to listen to and about the secret story behind the production!

It was a live show that could only be presented at Amphitheater!

─ ─ "Yuki Kajiura LIVE TOUR vol.#15 "Soundtrack Special at the Amphitheater" held in June 2019 was the same as the previous year's "Yuki Kajiura LIVE TOUR The venue for "Yuki Kajiura LIVE TOUR vol.#15 "Soundtrack Special at the Amphitheater" was Maihama Amphitheater, following "Yuki Kajiura LIVE TOUR vol.#14 "25th Anniversary Special" the previous year.

Kajiura: The Amphitheater was a much more enjoyable venue than I had imagined. The capacity of the venue is 2000 people, which makes it feel so close to the audience, and the circular stage makes it easy to see the audience from all angles. So for "vol.#15," I decided to move to the front. I decided to go to the front next time, and that's what I did for "vol.#15. The performers all said that the audience was very close to them.

───The start of the "vol.#15" concert was also unexpected, wasn't it?

Kajiura That's right. Yoshiaki Sato, who played accordion, came out into the aisle of the audience seats while playing. I thought this kind of playhouse-like performance would suit the amphitheater, so we gave it a try. The audience was surprised on the first day (laughs). The singers sometimes went down the aisles during the live performance, and I think "vol.#15" allowed us to play in various ways that are unique to amphitheater.

─ ─ The live performance was held on two consecutive days, and the setlist for the second half was different on the first and second days.

Kajiura: Many people came to both days, and the biggest reason was that we switched singers: Remi on the first day and Eri on the second day. The most important reason was that we had two different singers, Remi on the first day and Eri on the second day.

─ On both days, many songs from the NHK morning drama "Hanako to Anne" were included in the set list.

Kajiura: "Hanako to Anne" has over 100 songs, and it is not possible to create that many songs for a single work. I chose "Hanako and Anne" because it has many bright songs with well-defined melodies, and they are easy to play in a live performance. In addition, "vol. 15" featured Naoo Nakahara-san, who plays the Eireann pipes (an Irish folk instrument, a kind of bagpipe).

─ You also selected the music to suit the performers, didn't you?

Kajiura: I wanted to play a song that would appeal to the performers at the live performance. For recordings, I tend to pick songs that the performer has played or songs where the performer's instrument can be used to its fullest.

─ Yuki Kajiura LIVE is held on various themes, and "Soundtrack Special" has become a regular event.

Kajiura: The fact that "Soundtrack Special" has become a regular feature is a breakthrough for me. There is a strong impression that many of the soundtracks I have written have songs with female choruses, but in reality, more than 80% of them have no singing in them. I am very happy that gorgeous songs sung by women in a mysterious language (editor's note: the so-called Kajiura language) have become standard and popular songs at live performances, but instrumental songs without vocals are difficult to include in a regular live performance. So, conversely, I wanted to do a live concert focusing on such songs, and that was the beginning of the "Soundtrack Special. We started with the expectation that since the divas would not be performing, we would probably not be able to attract a large audience.

─ ─ The first "Soundtrack Special" was "Yuki Kajiura LIVE Vol. #9 "three days special"" in 2012. Vol. 9" was a three-day live concert with a different theme for each day: Japanese-only, Soundtrack, and no Japanese.

Kajiura: Actually, the second day had the smallest audience. However, I found that more people than I had expected had gathered and were enjoying the show. I wondered if it would be okay to hold a live concert with this kind of structure once in a while. So we continued to do so, and "vol.#15" was a full house at the Amphitheater on both days. The reason why we were able to do that was because the customers who came to the first "Soundtrack Special" spread the word by word of mouth that it was good, and I believe that everyone helped to foster the "Soundtrack Special". I am very happy that we were able to release a live CD as the fruit of this effort.