Sir Simon Rattle’s last Asia tour as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker was a triumph, and is documented here in selected audio and video recordings. At the heart of this edition are audio recordings of the two final concerts at the legendary Suntory Hall in Tokyo – the musical and emotional highlight of the tour. “The quality of the orchestra delighted audiences,” said one critic. “It was a virtuoso display of ensemble playing that is simply indescribable.”
In late 2017, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic toured Hong Kong, China, South Korea, and Japan, and their valedictory performances together have been gathered for this lavish 2018 set, packaged as a hardback book in the oblong format of previous releases on the orchestra's label, and containing five hybrid SACDs and one Blu-ray. (While the audio recording of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, featuring pianist Seong-Jin Cho, was recorded in Berlin just prior to the tour, her Hong Kong performance appears on the Blu-ray along with performances from the concerts in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Wuhan, and Seoul.)
The original lineup of the supergroup Asia – vocalist/bass guitarist John Wetton, guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes, and drummer Carl Palmer – first reunited for a tour in 2006 to celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of 1982's Asia album, and then hit the road again to support 2008's Phoenix. This album was just the third Asia studio effort from these renowned progressive rock veterans. In early 2011, Asia released a solid live album, Spirit of the Night: The Phoenix Tour Live in Cambridge 2009. The special edition includes both a CD and DVD of the show, which was recorded and filmed at the Cambridge Rock Festival on August 9, 2009, in Cambridge, England…
2 x CD with remixed/remastered 2022 audio: Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, MTV satellite telecast concert (6 December 1983, USA time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes; Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, previous night’s show (6 December 1983, Japan Time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes.