Seiji Ozawa
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Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾, Ozawa Seiji^?, born September 1, 1935) is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera.

Biography

Born in Shenyang, China in the puppet state Manchukuo while it was under Japanese occupation, he studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo and graduated in 1959 before travelling to Europe for further study. Charles Münch eventually took Ozawa to the United States for lessons at the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood). He won a scholarship to study with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1961 he was appointed as an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra by Leonard Bernstein. In December 1962 Ozawa was involved in a controversy with the prestigious Japanese NHK Symphony Orchestra when certain players, unhappy with his style and personality, refused to play under him. Ozawa went on to conduct the rival Japan Philharmonic Orchestra instead.¹ He was music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1970, and of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1976.

In 1973, Ozawa became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). He held this position until 2002, thus rendering him the longest-serving music director in the BSO's history. In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall "Seiji Ozawa Hall" in honor of his 20th season with the orchestra. Ozawa caused controversy from 1996-1997 with sudden demands for change at the Tanglewood Music Center, which caused Gilbert Kalish and Leon Fleisher to resign in protest.² Towards the end of Ozawa's tenure, he received strong criticism from the American critic and composer Greg Sandow, which led to controversy in the Boston press.³ Other critical commentary on Ozawa's tenure in Boston has been aired.⁴

Ozawa has also been an advocate of 20th century classical music, giving the premieres of a number of works including György Ligeti's San Francisco Polyphony in 1975 and Olivier Messiaen's opera Saint François d'Assise in 1983. He is noted to have somewhat of a photographic memory, as he is able to memorize the scores of large works such as the Mahler Symphonies.

Since 2002, he has been music director of the Vienna State Opera. On February 1, 2006, the Vienna State Opera announced that he had to cancel all his 2006 conducting engagements because of illness, including pneumonia and shingles. He returned to conducting in March 2007 at the Tokyo Opera Nomuri.⁵ Ozawa is scheduled to step down from his post at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, to be succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst.⁶

Ozawa became famous not only for his conducting mannerisms, but also his sartorial style: he wore the traditional formal dress with a white turtleneck rather than the usual starched shirt, waistcoat, and white tie.

In October 2008, Ozawa was honored with Japan's Order of Culture; and an awards ceremony for the Order of Culture will be held at the Imperial Palace.⁷ He is a recipient of the 34th Suntory Music Award (2002) and the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

Bibliography

• "Seiji: An Intimate Portrait of Seiji Ozawa" (Hardcover) by Lincoln Russell (Illustrator), Caroline Smedvig (Editor) ISBN 0-395-93943-7

References

External links

• Seiji Ozawa at Allmusic
• Sony Classical: Seiji Ozawa
• The Jack Robinson Archives, images of Ozawa
• Decca Classics, biography of Ozawa
• Seiji Ozawa Says Farewell, NPR, July 14, 2002
• International Music Academy – Switzerland
• Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood
• (English) Productions Internationales Albert Sarfati (France Management) : Seiji Ozawa