On Sunday, June 17th at 2:30a.m., a group of Italian and Japanese music and mountain lovers followed the world famous cellist Mario Brunello to climb up on the Japanese holy Mount Fuji. With his more than 400 year old Maggini instrument on his back the 47 years old Italian started from the 5th station at 2300m towards Nippon's highest peak. At around 4:30 a.m. Brunello reached the 7th station of the mountain where he played "Alone" by the contemporary composer G. Sollima at the moment of the sunrise. Listening to the sounds of the cello at 2700m during morning aurora was a magical moment for everyone.

The trail to the top became more and more difficult as the Mount Fuji is covered by unusual masses of snow this year. When reaching the top at around 9a.m. the beautiful scenery and blue sky let everyone forget the exhausting and difficult ascend. At the border of the crater, at an altitude of 3776m, Mario Brunello enlightend his fans with three pieces from Bach: the 1st Cello Suite in G-Major (BWV 1007), Gavotte from the 6th Cello Suite in D-major (BWV 1012) and the Sarabande of the 5th Cello Suite in C-minor. "On the top of the mountain we are at the closest point to heaven and the divine. As in music, Bach's works are also the nearest to the absolute and the perfect, I chose to play these pieces." commented Brunello after the recital. Other hikers who perceived the cello sounds from far were completely speechless when they discovered a cello concert at the summit.

Playing on the top of mount Fuji is a long-awaited dream of the cellist from the Castelfranco, Veneto, who was the first Italian to win at the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition at age 26. Ever since, he is playing with famous orchestras throughout the world. Among his extensive tours to Japan, where is surrounded by a large fan community, he regularly performs at the Tokyo Summer Festival and has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo Kioi Symphony. He is also director of the Orchestra d'Archi Italiana, which he founded in 1994.