While traveling in Japan last week, I attended a concert by the NHK Symphony in NHK Hall, Tokyo, a preview of where the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will perform a year from now.

The concert was a revelation in several ways. Despite an 11-year recession, Japanese audiences are hungry for classical music, and nearly every seat was taken in the 3,700-seat hall for last Sunday's matinee performance. Secondly, the Japanese revere the German musical tradition, evident in both the program of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms and the central European sound of the orchestra under honorary conductor laureate Wolfgang Sawallisch.

The precision and discipline of the NHK Symphony made it evident that this is not just the finest orchestra in Japan, but one of the best in the world.

The orchestra filed onstage just before concert time, like the Vienna Philharmonic. The 1970s-era hall, with its high-pitched ceiling, had surprisingly good acoustics for a large, multi-purpose hall, although some clarity of sound was missing. (To compare, Cincinnati's Music Hall, also a multi-purpose hall, has 3,400 seats.)

Mr. Sawallisch, who is in his last season as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, cultivated a dark, expressive tone in Mozart's Symphony No. 31, "Paris." Although his gestures were minimal and his slower tempos somewhat stodgy, he was an effective leader who inspired extremely fine playing. In the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, the orchestra gave unobtrusive support to the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos - whose rendition was vigorous and full of personality - and the musicians were perfectly in sync with him in the finale's scampering fairy music.

Brahms' Symphony No. 3 offered the most telling picture of this orchestra's virtuosity. The string ensemble was nearly as homogeneous as the Cleveland Orchestra's. The winds had superb intonation and phrased with color. In the third movement, the horn solo was superbly done; the finale was brisk and smiling.

The Japanese audience, which never stood, called back Maestro Sawallisch at least four times.

Still, the economy may be affecting the NHK Symphony, as it has orchestras in the United States. A decade ago, NHK Symphony concerts were largely sold out by subscription and it was impossible to get tickets. Today, said my Japanese host, one can usually find a seat at the last minute. The orchestra, founded in 1926, receives full financial support from the public broadcaster Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK).

Last month, the NHK Symphony announced that renowned pianist/conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy will become its music director in September 2004, after current director Charles Dutoit's term ends.

CSO music director Paavo Jarvi, who led the NHK Symphony in three weeks of concerts in January, is already a well-known figure in Japan. Expect Cincinnati to be in the spotlight when he takes the CSO there next November.

East meets West: Pianist Elizabeth Pridonoff, a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, represented the United States at an international conference, "East Meets West - Female Musicians of Today and Tomorrow," in Taiwan at the Tainan Woman's College of Arts and Technology. The conference investigated career opportunities for women in music in Taiwan, pointing to a change in attitude about accepting women in prominent roles that were formerly closed to them.

"I think the Taiwanese are wanting a change, and they are wanting to see what is possible," says Ms. Pridonoff.

Breaking records: The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra is enjoying a record-breaking season, as it prepares to move to its new home, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, in March. Subscription sales have reached an all-time high of more than $1.5 million this season. Single ticket sales are also up, by 30 percent per concert, says executive eirector Curt Long.

The orchestra, led by Neal Gittleman since 1995, recently moved its mid-week performances to Friday and Saturday, another possible reason for the upsurge in sales. "Audience surveys said single ticket buyers had a strong preference for weekends," Mr. Long says.

Belt tightening: The Opera Columbus board voted last month to ditch its winter production of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, to help reduce a $600,000 projected operating deficit for the fiscal year 2003. The company's annual budget is about $3 million. Citing the sluggish economy, general director Philip M. Dobard said that tickets sales were below projections and contributions drastically reduced from recent years. That leaves The Magic Flute (final performance at 2 p.m. today at the Palace Theatre) and a spring education and outreach performance of the children's opera, Brundibar.

Camerata contest: Cincinnati Camerata is accepting entrants for its 2003 composition contest, a piece for 20-voice choral ensemble. Composers must live within a 100-mile radius of Cincinnati. The winning composition will be awarded $500 and be performed in Camerata's spring concert. For information, call (859) 491-2362. Deadline: March 1.

Kudos: Three CCM singers will advance to the regionals of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, following district auditions held Nov. 2 in Corbett Auditorium. Andrew Garland, a student of Kenneth McGraw, You-Seong Kim and Michael Todd Simpson, students of Barbara Honn, each won $1,000 and will compete again at 1 p.m. Dec. 14 in Corbett Auditorium. Honorable mention awards of $500 went to Craig Verm, Katelyn Mattson and Corey Rennbarger.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awarded an ASCAP Composition Award to Nathaniel Beversluis, a CCM orchestral conducting student. Composer Stephen Sondheim presented Mr. Beversluis with the award last month at the ASCAP awards banquet.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com