Talk:Motoo Ōtaguro

Dedication
We're told:


 * Ōtaguro held a piano concert at the Tokyo YMCA center titled "Scriabin–Debussy Evening". This was the first concert in Japan dedicated to both composers' music.

I believe that this means that this was the first concert in Japan whose content was entirely by Scriabin and Debussy. (It wasn't entirely by Debussy, as more or less of its content was by Scriabin.)

It comes with a note:


 * There had been a few performances of Debussy's music in Tokyo before, the first one being a performance of Sarabande from Pour le piano by Rudolph Ernest Reuter on November 24, 1909. However, Ōtaguro's concert was the first one with a program dedicated to his music.

This implies to me that the content of Ōtaguro's concert was entirely by Debussy. But what about Scriabin? -- Hoary (talk) 23:10, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Kasaba 1986, pp. 32–33 has a list of the Debussy performances in Tokyo from 1909–25. Ōtaguro was the first to play more than one piece by Debussy at a concert in Japan, and Arayashiki 2018, p. 154 leads me to believe he was the first to ever play Scriabin in a concert in the country. I think maybe it's less confusing if I change "program dedicated to" with "program significantly consisting of his music". RoseCherry64 (talk) 23:37, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * "more than one piece" isn't technically correct either, the Two Arabesques were performed in October 1911 by Katsuko Honda per Kasaba 1986, p. 32. In total, there are five concerts listed in the source prior to Ōtaguro's concert, and out of those, one has two pieces performed and the rest only a shorter one. Indeed, most sources tend to gloss over the earlier concerts which featured Debussy's compositions very briefly and just claim that he was the first. RoseCherry64 (talk) 23:43, 12 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Hmm, then I'd err on the side of understatement and say something like 'Ōtaguro held a piano concert at the Tokyo YMCA center titled "Scriabin–Debussy Evening", combining the works of two composers still little-known in Japan.'" Perhaps with a note along the lines of (i) 'Five earlier performances of Debussy are known, but none constituted more than a minor part of a concert', plus perhaps (ii) something about Scriabin. -- Hoary (talk) 01:14, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I tweaked it a little bit. Tried and failed to find anything about earlier Scriabin concerts in Japan. Doesn't seem likely either, and indeed scholars seem to attribute both composers being introduced by Ōtaguro. RoseCherry64 (talk) 17:38, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Residence
Was his "residence" (mentioned twice) a house? -- Hoary (talk) 23:14, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * There are two residences mentioned, and I gave the date when he moved there to not be confusing. The one in Suginami is an enormous plot of land his father bought for him (detailed in one of the cited sources, don't remember which one right now). I assume the one in Ōmori-sannō being a larger mansion, as it's a wealthy residential district. RoseCherry64 (talk) 23:26, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * OK, but I've always taken "residence" to be either (a) realtor-speak for "house", "apartment" or anything else on the market or (b) a euphemism for something (such as an apartment) that's somehow less than a house. -- Hoary (talk) 01:21, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
 * It's that amiable Briticism des res that does it for me. -- Hoary (talk) 02:03, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I changed the first mention to mansion. Not sure if there's a better word for residence for the enormous piece of land he later owned. RoseCherry64 (talk) 17:31, 13 January 2022 (UTC)