What makes Joe Hisaishi’s music so memorable? Some say it is the innocent, childlike tunes, or perhaps his inventive use of conventional rhythm. Much of it, according to pianist Aura Go, lies in his harmonic language.

Go stars in a mesmerising program of Hisaishi’s works with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Time seems to stand still as she demonstrates a simple progression of Hisaishi-esque seventh chords with added notes.

Aura Go and the SSO perform the music of Joe Hisaishi. Photo © Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Nicholas Buc immediately latches on, inviting her to play the progression again with the orchestra. What eventually evolves is Buc’s colourful transformation of Peter Dawson’s Waltzing Matilda (1938) into a triple-time Hisaishi waltz, complete with a descending melodic minor contour in the chorus.

Such is the nature of this concert, which takes the audience on an epic educational adventure through various film scores by the eminent composer, now 74 and still active.

Professor Dan Golding and Andrew Pogson, creators of Art of the Score, guide the captivated full house in an amicable, tongue-in-cheek manner,...