Seiji Ozawa | |
|---|---|
小澤 征爾 | |
 Ozawa in 1963 | |
| Born | (1935-09-01)September 1, 1935 |
| Died | February 6, 2024(2024-02-06) (aged 88) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Conductor |
| Organizations | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingYukiyoshi |
| Awards | |
Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾,Ozawa Seiji; September 1, 1935 – February 6, 2024) was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of theToronto Symphony Orchestra, theSan Francisco Symphony, and especially theBoston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After conducting theVienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he was director of theVienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he founded theSaito Kinen Orchestra in 1984,their festival in 1992, and the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.
Ozawa rose to fame after he won the 1959Besançon competition. He was invited byCharles Munch, then the music director of the BSO, for the following year toTanglewood, the orchestra's summer home, where he studied with Munch andPierre Monteux. Winning the festival'sKoussevitzky Prize earned him a scholarship withHerbert von Karajan and theBerlin Philharmonic and brought him to the attention ofLeonard Bernstein, who made him his assistant with theNew York Philharmonic in 1961. He became artistic director of the festival and education program in Tanglewood in 1970, together withGunther Schuller. In 1994, the new main hall there was named after him.
Ozawa conducted world premieres such asGyörgy Ligeti'sSan Francisco Polyphony in 1975 andOlivier Messiaen's operaSaint François d'Assise in Paris in 1983. He receivednumerous international awards. Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor recognized internationally and the only one of superstar status.[1]
Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935, to Japanese parents in theJapanese-occupied Manchurian city of Mukden, now known asShenyang.[2][3][4] He began piano lessons at age seven.[1] When his family returned to Japan in 1944, he began studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, with a focus on the works ofJohann Sebastian Bach.
After graduating from the Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa broke two fingers in arugby game.Hideo Saito, his teacher at theToho Gakuen School of Music, brought him to a performance of Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No. 5, ultimately shifting his musical focus from piano performance to conducting. He studied conducting and composition, achieving first prizes in both fields, and worked with theNHK Symphony Orchestra and theJapan Philharmonic while still a student.[1] He graduated in 1957.[2][5]
Ozawa travelled to Europe for further studies; he supported himself by selling Japanese motor scooters.[1] He achieved the first prize at the 1959International Competition of Orchestra Conductors inBesançon, France, which made him known internationally;[1][6]Charles Munch, then the music director of theBoston Symphony Orchestra, invited him to attend the Berkshire Music Center (now theTanglewood Music Center) the following year to study with Munch andPierre Monteux.[1] Shortly after his arrival there, Ozawa won theKoussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, Tanglewood's highest honor, which earned him a scholarship to study conducting withHerbert von Karajan.[1]
Ozawa moved toWest Berlin. Under the tutelage of Karajan, Ozawa caught the attention ofLeonard Bernstein, who then appointed him as assistant conductor of theNew York Philharmonic, where Ozawa served during the 1961–1962 and 1964–1965 seasons.[6] He first conducted atCarnegie Hall in 1961 and first conducted theSan Francisco Symphony in 1962.[1] Ozawa remains the only conductor to have studied under both Karajan and Bernstein.[2] In December 1962 Ozawa was involved in a controversy with the NHK Symphony Orchestra when some players, unhappy with his style and personality, refused to play under him. Ozawa went on to conduct the rival Japan Philharmonic Orchestra instead.[2][7] In July 1963, Ozawa was in New York to appear as a guest conductor, and while there appeared on the American television programWhat's My Line?.[8]
From 1964 until 1968, Ozawa served as the first music director of theRavinia Festival,[1] the summer home of theChicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1969 he served as the festival's principal conductor.[2] He conducted theVienna Philharmonic first in 1966 at theSalzburg Festival.[9]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 Ozawa conducts theTSO in honor of the Canadian Centennial in 1967 "Canadian Music In The Twentieth Century"Here on archive.org | |
| Seiji Ozawa conducts theChicago Symphony Orchestra inModest Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition"andBenjamin Britten's "The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra" in 1968 Here on archive.org |
In his first post as music director, Ozawa led theToronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) from 1965 to 1969. Basically every work on the programs, such as the symphonies byBeethoven,Tchaikovsky andMahler were new for him, and he described the audience as patient and supportive in a later interview. Concerts were held at theMassey Hall; they played for the opening of the newToronto City Hall in 1965, for the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Glasgow and theExpo 67 in Montreal.[10]
Ozawa made notable recordings with the TSO, including theSymphonie fantastique by Berlioz in 1966, a highly lauded recording by music critics.[11]
In 1967, Ozawa and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra recorded Messiaen'sTurangalîla-Symphonie that Koussevitzky had commissioned and Bernstein first conducted with the BSO.[12][13] In Ozawa's version, the first in North America,Yvonne Loriod was the pianist as in the premiere.[13][14][15] The recording was nominated for aGrammy Award.[16] When it was reissued on CD in 2004, a reviewer noted: "The orgiastic fifth and 10th movements still pack quite a punch, and in a very real sense, while many more modern versions have come and gone this one still holds its own with the best of them."[17] The composer would entrust Ozawa with the premiere of his operaSaint François d'Assise in Paris in 1983.[14]
In 1969 Ozawa and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra recorded an album of four works of Japanese composerToru Takemitsu, Asterism For Piano And Orchestra, Requiem For String Orchestra, Green For Orchestra (November Steps II), and The Dorian Horizon For 17 Strings.[18]
Ozawa was music director of theSan Francisco Symphony from 1970 to 1976.[1] In San Francisco, he combined Bernstein's charismatic style with the flower power of the west coast, wearing long hair and flowery shirts, and sometimes conducting cross-over programs.[14] In 1972, he led the San Francisco Symphony in its first commercial recordings in a decade, recording music inspired by Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet. In 1973, he took the San Francisco Symphony on a European tour, which included a Paris concert that was broadcast via satellite in stereo to San Francisco stationKKHI.
He was involved in a 1974 dispute with the San Francisco Symphony's players' committee that deniedtenure to the timpanist Elayne Jones and the bassoonist Ryohei Nakagawa, two young musicians Ozawa had selected.[19] He was committed to contemporary music then, for example commissioningSan Francisco Polyphony fromGyörgy Ligeti in 1975.[1] During the time, he impressed by "the brilliance of his interpretations, with his supreme command of the most intimidatingly complex scores and as a graceful, even glamorous stage performer".[1]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| Ozawa conducting Beethoven'sChoral Fantasy withRudolf Serkin and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) & Tanglewood Festival Chorus in 1982 archive.org | |
| Ozawa conducting Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No. 3 with Rudolf Serkin and the BSO in 1984 archive.org |
In 1970, Ozawa andGunther Schuller became artistic directors of the Berkshire Music Festival in Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO).[1] Ozawa became music director of the BSO in 1973. He remained in that position for 29 years, the longest tenure of any music director there, surpassing the 25 years held bySerge Koussevitzky.[2] He conducted more world premieres, including works by Ligeti andTōru Takemitsu.[14]
Ozawa won his firstEmmy Award in 1976, for the BSO'sPBS television series,Evening at Symphony; in 1994, he was awarded his second Emmy for Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming forDvořák in Prague: A Celebration.[20] He played a key role as a teacher and administrator at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer music home that has programs for young professionals and high school students.[21] In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall "Seiji Ozawa Hall" in honor of his 20th season with the orchestra.[2] In recognition of his impact on the BSO, Ozawa was named music director laureate.[22]
On 24 October, 1974, Ozawa conducted a Japanese combined orchestra which included theToho Gakuen School of Music Orchestra and members of theJapan Philharmonic Orchestra with solo celloTsuyoshi Tsutsumi and solo violistNobuko Imai in a world-wide telecast (carried on the PBS television network in the United States) from the United Nations building in New York City.[23] The concert included a work by Beethoven and Strauss'sDon Quixote with the two Japanese soloists.
In December 1979, Ozawa conducted a performance of Beethoven'sNinth Symphony with theBeijing Symphony Orchestra.[24] This was the first time since 1961 that the symphony was performed live in the People's Republic of China due to a ban on Western music.[24]
Ozawa gave notable performances of music of his countrymanToru Takemitsu, including "Orion and Pleiades" for cello and orchestra. In October 1990 he performed it with cellistTsuyoshi Tsutsumi and theBoston Symphony Orchestra in honour of Takemitsu's 60th birthday.[25]
Ozawa made his debut with theMetropolitan Opera in New York City in 1992, conducting Tchaikovsky'sEugene Onegin (opera), in a cast with Mirella Freni as Tatyana. He returned to the house in 2008 withThe Queen of Spades, both productions described as passionate and electrifying.[26]
Ozawa created a controversy in 1996–1997 with sudden demands for change at the Tanglewood Music Center, arguing that the organization had become too clubby, which madeGilbert Kalish andLeon Fleisher resign in protest.[27] Subsequent criticism byGreg Sandow generated controversy in the press.[28][29][30]
Ozawa used an unorthodox conducting wardrobe, wearing the traditional formal dress with a whiteturtleneck instead of the usualstarched shirt,waistcoat, and whitetie.[31]
In an effort to merge all-Japanese orchestras and performers with international artists, Ozawa, along withKazuyoshi Akiyama, founded theSaito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, named after his teacher.[1] Since its creation, the orchestra has gained a prominent position in the international music community, establishing a festival inMatsumoto in 1992, later named theSeiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.[1][32] A 2013 recording from the festival of Ravel'sL'enfant et les sortilèges earned Ozawa his onlyGrammy Award in 2016, for best opera recording.[33][16]
In 1998, Ozawa conducted a simultaneous international performance of Beethoven'sOde to Joy at theopening ceremony of the1998 Winter Olympics inNagano, Japan. Ozawa conducted an orchestra and singers in Nagano, and was joined by choruses singing fromBeijing,Berlin,Cape Town,New York City, andSydney – as well as the crowd in theNagano Olympic Stadium. This was the first time a simultaneous international audio-visual performance had been achieved.[34][35][36]
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On New Year's Day 2002, Ozawa conducted theVienna New Year's Concert,[9] the first Japanese in a long tradition.[2] In 2002, he stepped down from the BSO music directorship to become principal conductor of theVienna State Opera.[32][37] He had conducted at the house before, Verdi'sErnani and Tchaikovsky'sEugene Onegin in 1988,Pique Dame in 1992 and Verdi'sFalstaff in 1993, and began his tenure with productions of Janáček'sJenůfa and Krenek'sJonny spielt auf.[38]
In 2005, he foundedTokyo Opera Nomori [fr] and conducted its production of Richard Strauss'sElektra. On February 1, 2006, the Vienna State Opera announced that he had to cancel all his 2006 conducting engagements because of illness, includingpneumonia andshingles. He returned to conducting in March 2007 at the Tokyo Opera Nomori. Ozawa stepped down from his post at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, to be succeeded byFranz Welser-Möst. He was named an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic then.[9] In 2021, he conducted the orchestra a last time, on a Japan tour featuring the slow movement from Mozart's Divertimento, K. 136.[9]
| External videos | |
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 Seiji Ozawa is interviewed byCharlie Rose onPBS in 1999Here on archive.org |
Ozawa had three brothers, Katsumi, Toshio, and Mikio, the latter becoming a music writer and radio host in Tokyo.[39] Ozawa's first wife was the pianistKyoko Edo [ja].[1][40] His second wife wasMiki Irie [ja] ("Vera"), a Russian-Japanese former model and actress (born in 1944 inYokohama). He was married to her from 1968 until his death in 2024.[1] The couple had two children, a daughter named Seira and a son namedYukiyoshi.[1] During his tenure with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ozawa opted to divide his time between Boston and Tokyo rather than move his family to the United States as he and his wife wanted their children to grow up aware of their Japanese heritage.[39]
Ozawa and the cellist and conductorMstislav Rostropovich formed a traveling musical group during the later stages of Rostropovich's life, with the goal of giving free concerts and mentoring students across Japan.[40]
On January 7, 2010, Ozawa announced that he was canceling all engagements for six months in order to undergo treatments foresophageal cancer.[32] The doctor with Ozawa at the time of the announcement said it was detected at an early stage.[41][42] Ozawa's other health problems included pneumonia[32] and lower back problems requiring surgery in 2011.[32][43] Following his cancer diagnosis, Ozawa and the novelistHaruki Murakami embarked on a series of six conversations about classical music that form the basis for the bookAbsolutely on Music.[1][44]
His last concert took place on November 22, 2022, with theSaito Kinen Orchestra where he conducted, in a wheelchair, Beethoven's'Egmont' Overture, which was broadcast live toKoichi Wakata, an astronaut onboard theInternational Space Station.[1][45]
Ozawa died of heart failure at his home in Tokyo, on February 6, 2024, at the age of 88.[46][47]
Daniel Froschauer, speaking for the Vienna Philharmonic, wrote: "We are happy to have experienced so many artistic highlights with Seiji Ozawa. It was a gift to be able to go on a long journey with this artist, who was characterized by the highest musical standards and at the same time humility towards the treasures of musical culture as well as his loving interaction with his colleagues and his charisma, which was also felt by the audience."[9]
His obituary inThe New York Times noted: "In the waning years of his life, Mr. Ozawa came to recognize the wisdom that comes from years of music making. 'A musician's special flavor comes out with age,' he told [Haruki] Murakami in the 2016 book of conversations. 'His playing at that stage may have more interesting qualities than at the height of his career.'"[48]
Ozawa held honorary doctorate degrees from theSorbonne University,[49]Harvard University,[50] theNew England Conservatory of Music, theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst,National University of Music Bucharest, andWheaton College. He was a Member of Honour of theInternational Music Council.[51]
| External audio | |
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| Ozawa conducting Tchaikovsky'sThe Queen of Spades withVladimir Atlantov,Mirella Freni and theBoston Symphony Orchestra in 1992archive.org |
Source:[71]
the first time that images and sounds from around the globe were united in a simultaneous live performance.
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| Preceded by | Music Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra 1973–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Music Director, Vienna State Opera 2002–2010 | Succeeded by |
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