(Clearwisdom.net) On the evening of February 20, 2008, Goro Maeda, a major comedy artist from Japan's largest entertainment production company, the Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., came to NHK Music Hall in Osaka to watch the last show of the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular. He had high praise for the entire performance.
Goro Maeda and his daughter, Mami Maeda
Mr. Maeda said, "I myself play big drum, too, so I know how hard it is to play big drums well. I liked the 'Drummers of the Tang Court' the most in the first half of the show. I liked the 'Victory Drums' piece in the second half."
He was very impressed with the overall coordination of the entire production. "Many pieces were composed of ten, twenty or more performers, but the group performed harmoniously, with such precision, as if there was just one performer in the show. All the performers acted like one person, without making any mistakes. That was really great."
Miss Mami Maeda liked the dance "The Fruits of Goodness," because of its profound content. She said, "It was amazing that the artists could tell the story so well without using any words."
Mr. Maeda also praised the splendid costumes, saying, "In Japan, if the program were this luxurious and splendid, in order to achieve harmony, the costumes would be relatively plain. Although the costumes in today's show were made up of all sorts of bright colors, they were definitely not 'too busy.' Such color harmonization and color combinations were really great!"
Miss Maeda enjoyed the Erhu solo, too. She was amazed that such a simple instrument could express complex emotions and make such beautiful music.
Mr. Maeda added, "I often go to theaters. If I'm not drawn into the program, I am left feeling that it's too long. At this show, I was surprised when I noticed that two hours had passed. The show was so excellent and fantastic that I lost track of the time."
Mr. Maeda concluded by stating, "Traditional cultural shows like this bring people a feeling of peace."