In 1967, Yamamoto appeared on the NHK television program “Ongaku no hana hiraku (Opening the Flowers of Music)”. Yamamoto became renowned for his conducting while wearing a red tuxedo, and he subsequently appeared in a commercial which was famous for the catchphrase ‘Ōkii-koto ha yoikoto-da (A big thing is a good thing)’. in 1972, Yamamoto established a new Japanese philharmonic orchestra with Seiji Ozawa. From the same year, Yamamoto was in charge of the planning and musical direction of the TBS television program “Orchestra ga yattekita (The orchestra has come)”, and he contributed to the expansion of the range of classical music. He planned ‘Ichi-man nin no daiku concerto (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Concert by 10.000 people)’ for the opening of the Osaka-jō Hall (Osaka Castle Hall) and continued conducting as well as his work as musical director until 1998. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Prize of the 44th Japanese Record Award.
