Masaaki Suzuki

Conductor Masaaki Suzuki talks to Sean Rafferty, ahead of a concert in St John's Smith Square with the Bach Collegium Japan. When Suzuki first suggested recording a complete cycle of Bach's cantatas to the director of the BIS record label, his proposal was met with "uncontrollable laughter". However, hearing Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan won the record executive over, and the rest is history. Suzuki tells Sean Rafferty how he was drawn to Bach, why vocal training in Japan makes Japanese singers ideal for his music, and, now that the Bach cycle is complete, and what the future holds beyond the music of the great master.