Now that the live music scene has more or less returned to normal, virtual concerts have lost much of the allure they had at the height of the pandemic. However, it may be worth staying in for an evening with Ryuichi Sakamoto on Dec. 11.
“Playing the Piano 2022” is a sequel to a live-streamed performance that the celebrated musician and composer gave exactly two years earlier, under rather different circumstances. Back then, lockdowns and travel restrictions were still in force in much of the world; Sakamoto, who had undergone successful treatment for throat cancer in 2014, was still apparently in good health.
Unknown to his audience at the time, he had learned only the previous day that the cancer had returned, and had been given just six months to live. Though he has managed to defy that diagnosis so far, his latest performance comes tinged with the knowledge that it may be his last public appearance.
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