ON THE EVE of this interview with Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, an odd message arrives from his assistant: Please avoid questions about animator Hayao Miyazaki. That's like meeting John Williams and being asked not to discuss Steven Spielberg. After all, Hisaishi is best known outside Japan for scoring the anime master's movies. Miyazaki devotees would struggle to imagine Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle without the sweeping music that glues them together. It wouldn't be surprising if Miyazaki fans have bought the bulk of the tickets to Hisaishi's sold-out concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on Thursday. Hisaishi has been composing for a quarter of a century and has just added an LA Film Critics Award (for Howl) to his five Japanese music academy awards. With a catalogue of more than 100 albums, including 40 soundtracks, and a new disc - Asian X.T.C. - to promote, why would he play second fiddle to the world's most famous animator? In the end, the message turns out to be a case of over-protectiveness. Although eager to discuss his latest venture, Hisaishi is also happy to talk about the man he first worked with on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind back in 1983, and to dispel rumours that the perfectionist and media-shy animator is 'difficult'. 'His level of expectation is extremely high, but he's not a difficult person at all,' says the composer, a wiry, intense man with the energy of someone a decade younger than his 56 years. 'Miyazaki-san works very steadily, like a marathon runner, Monday to Friday, at the same pace every day. If he didn't, none of us would last the two or three years it takes to make one of his movies.' Hisaishi says the partnership with Miyazaki has survived because they share the same artistic sensibilities. 'I made about half the music for Howl before seeing the movie and when we put the two together they were a perfect fit. Some said that was because we've been working together for two decades and have learned to read each other, but I think we've always been in tune.' He says he never takes for granted the effort needed to maintain the relationship. 'No matter how many successes or crises we've had over the years, I always have to work hard to live up to his expectations. When the day comes that our ideas don't gel, our creative relationship is finished.' The pain and pleasures of collaboration naturally loom large in discussion with a man who has worked so extensively with other musicians and directors, including Takeshi Kitano (for whom he produced the soundtrack for Brother), Korean director Park Kwang-hyun (Welcome to Dongmakgol) and Hong Kong's Ann Hui On-wah (The Aunt's Postmodern Life). Hisaishi admits that the pain can linger. 'It can be frustrating, difficult work, and sometimes you see the results when the music is so low you can hardly hear it and you find yourself saying, 'What was all that work for?' If the director says, 'This is wrong', no matter how much I love the music I have to change it. If I did movies all the time I would burn out, so I try to balance my life about half and half between concerts and albums, and soundtracks.' The maestro presumably had more creative freedom on X.T.C., a typically eclectic blend of widescreen compositions played by a crack team of musicians, including the British Balanescu Quartet (led by Romanian Alexander Balanescu) and Jiang Jianhua, whose silky erhu playing is sprinkled throughout. The record and tour are his response to what he describes as a 'call from the gods' to 'take a closer look at myself as Asian'. The result, he says, is a hybrid of the two alternating poles of his own career - from his early minimalist, experimental work to his later popular music and soundtracks - and of eastern and western musical styles. 'I wanted to make Asian-themed music, but played by people from around the world,' he says. 'You would think that we Asian musicians have lots in common, but the influence of Europe and America is huge. So even though they're close, when you try to do something distinctly Asian, you find that the distance between us is very wide.' Initially, he worried about being able to blend all the individual elements together, but he says the experiment worked out better than he imagined. 'That's what makes music exciting: the potential to create something new and unique.' Throughout the project, Hisaishi tried to focus on his image of Asia as a blend of ying and yang, or opposing elements such as beauty and ugliness that coexist. 'It's a very Asian concept and I tried to express it along with my own dual nature.' Another layer of experiment will be added to this project when Hisaishi begins his first rehearsals with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, part of a tour visiting Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei and Seoul. 'This is our first concert in Hong Kong, so want to put on a really exciting show. We're going to play music that most people will know, from [My Neighbour] Totoro and other movies, but I'd also like to play compositions from the X.T.C. album.' Hisaishi says he always looks forward to visiting Hong Kong. 'I love that place. It overflows with the energy of its people. I've even kept the tickets from my ferry ride across the harbour.' Joe Hisaishi, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Thu, 8pm, HK$150-HK$600 Urbitx. Inquiries: 2734 9009
