From Screen to Piano: Fiammetta Corvi Explores the Music of Joe Hisaishi

Music has the remarkable ability to transport listeners into imaginary worlds, and few contemporary composers have done so more successfully than Joe Hisaishi. Best known for his longstanding collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki, Hisaishi has created some of the most memorable melodies in cinema, combining lyrical simplicity with emotional depth. His music has captivated audiences around the world, transcending the screen to become a cherished part of the concert repertoire.

Italian pianist Fiammetta Corvi celebrates this musical legacy in her new album, Joe Hisaishi – Piano Collection, released by Da Vinci Classics. We spoke with her about discovering Hisaishi’s music, the challenges of bringing it to the piano, and why these works continue to resonate across cultures.

Corvi’s relationship with music began long before she started formal piano lessons. She first encountered a grand piano at the age of three, but it was not until ten years later that she began studying the instrument. Even then, her musical path almost came to an unexpected end. While studying solfège through her local town band, she found the subject so challenging that she wanted to quit.

Fiammetta Corvi

“There was a moment when I wanted to give up,” she recalls. “My mother told me, ‘You made a commitment, and now you must stick with it.’ Even today, I thank her, as well as my family, who have always believed in me and supported me throughout this journey.”

Her perseverance led to a successful performing career and a growing discography. Following her debut album in 2017 and Rossinian Dreams, she now returns to Da Vinci Classics with a recording devoted entirely to Joe Hisaishi’s music.

For Corvi, recording this album felt less like a carefully planned project than a natural artistic destination.

“Since I believe in destiny, I can say that this kind of music was waiting for me,” she says. “From the very beginning, I loved these pieces: miniatures full of poetry, grit, sweetness, and playfulness. When I play them, I have fun and enter a fantasy world of my own, one that takes me back to when I was a child.”

Although Hisaishi’s music is inseparable from Miyazaki’s animated films, Corvi explains that she first encountered the composer’s work through the music itself. Even from selected scenes and excerpts, she was deeply moved by the poetic universe the films create.

“What I find particularly close to my own sensibility is the way these films address themes such as respect for nature, peace, growth, responsibility, and the subtle contrast between good and evil,” she says. “These are values that I feel very strongly, not only as an artist, but also in my way of thinking and living.”

Joe Hisaishi, 2020

Learning the repertoire required balancing technical precision with musical storytelling. While some works demanded careful attention to virtuosic passages, Corvi found the greater challenge lay in capturing the individual character of each piece.

“The memorable moments came when each piece began to take shape and come to life,” she says.

Recording the album brought a different set of challenges. Maintaining complete concentration throughout long sessions required both mental focus and endurance, while listening back to successful takes brought immense satisfaction. She also emphasises the importance of a trusting relationship with the recording engineer.

“You must feel at ease in order to have the necessary tranquillity to express yourself at your best.”

The accompanying booklet discusses the role of music in Japanese cinema and animation. Asked whether she sees parallels with Italian cinema, Corvi believes music serves a universal emotional purpose regardless of cultural tradition.

“Could we imagine a funeral without music? Or a wedding without music?” she asks. “It would not be the same.”

She points out that music has always been central to Italian cinema. Even before the arrival of sound films, silent movies were accompanied by live musicians, while later generations of composers, including Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Nicola Piovani, and Armando Trovajoli, created scores that became inseparable from the films themselves.

Many listeners associate Hisaishi’s music with a distinctly Japanese atmosphere, an impression Corvi shared as she immersed herself in the repertoire.

“In many of the pieces, this Oriental atmosphere comes through,” she explains. “Probably because of a certain intimacy, contemplation, and sobriety, created by the wise use of harmonies, by a certain alternation of sounds and silences and, to use a more technical term, by the use of pentatonic scales.”

Rather than consciously trying to emphasise these qualities, Corvi found that they naturally shaped her interpretation. “For this reason, it came naturally to me to interpret these pieces.”

Although the album introduces listeners to Hisaishi’s music through the piano, Corvi sees it as only the beginning of a broader project. Alongside concert performances of the programme, she is developing an educational initiative for schools that combines excerpts from animated films with live piano performance. By connecting familiar cinematic scenes with live music, she hopes to inspire children and young audiences to discover both the expressive possibilities of the piano and the enduring beauty of Hisaishi’s music.

For Corvi, Joe Hisaishi – Piano Collection is more than a collection of beloved film themes arranged for solo piano. It is an invitation to revisit the sense of wonder, imagination, and emotional sincerity that has made Joe Hisaishi’s music resonate with audiences around the world. As she puts it, performing these works allows her to enter “a fantasy world”, one she now invites listeners to share.