Seiji Ozawa

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Ozawa".

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 principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.

Biography

Early years

Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935 to Japanese parents in the city of Mukden, Manchukuo in what is now northeastern China. When his family returned to Japan in 1944, he began studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, heavily studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After graduating from the Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa sprained his finger in a rugby game. Unable to continue studying the piano, his teacher at the Toho Gakuen School of Music^[1] (Hideo Saito), brought Ozawa to a life-changing performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which ultimately shifted his musical focus from piano performance to conducting.^[2]

International success

Almost a decade after the sports injury, Ozawa won the first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France.^[3] His success in France led to an invitation by Charles Münch, then the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to attend the Berkshire Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center). In 1960, shortly after his arrival, Ozawa won the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, Tanglewood's highest honor. Receiving a scholarship to study conducting with famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, Ozawa moved to West Berlin. Under the tutelage of von Karajan, Ozawa caught the attention of prominent conductor Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein then appointed him as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic where he remained for the next four years.^[3] While with the New York Philharmonic, he made his first professional concert appearance with the San Francisco Symphony in 1962.^[4]

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.^[5] From 1964 to 1971, Seiji Ozawa served as the first music director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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 1972, he led the San Francisco Symphony in its first commercial recordings in a decade, recording music inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In 1973, he took the San Francisco orchestra on a European tour, which included a Paris concert that was broadcast via satellite in stereo to San Francisco station KKHI. He left San Francisco after a dispute with a players committee over granting tenure to two young musicians Ozawa had selected. He returned to San Francisco as a guest conductor, including a 1978 concert featuring music from Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Between the years of 1964 and 1973, he directed various orchestras until he became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973. His tenure at the BSO was maintained for 29 years, the longest tenure of any music director, surpassing the 25 years held by Serge Koussevitzky.^[4] Ozawa won his first Emmy Award in 1976, for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's PBS television series, "Evening at Symphony." In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall "Seiji Ozawa Hall" in honor of his 20th season with the orchestra. In 1994, he was awarded his second Emmy for Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming for "Dvořák in Prague: A Celebration."^[4]

An effort to merge all-Japanese orchestras and performers with international artists, Ozawa, along with Kazuyoshi Akiyama, founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1992. Since its creation, the orchestra has gained a prominent position in the international music community.^[2] In the same year, he also made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has additionally conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic on a regular basis. Ozawa can be seen in concert with the New Japan Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Orchestre National de France, La Scala in Milan and the Vienna Staatsoper.

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.^[6] Toward 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.^[7] Other critical commentary on Ozawa's tenure in Boston has been aired.^[8]

Premiering 20th century classical music

Ozawa has 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.

Recent years

In 2001, Ozawa was recognized by the Japanese government as a Person of Cultural Merit.^[9]

In 2002, he continued to follow in Herbert von Karajan's footsteps, as he became principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Ozawa continues to play 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.

On New Year's Day 2002, Ozawa conducted an all-Strauss concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, programming the concert so it would have a nice flow and keep everyone's interest as they ushered in the New Year.^[10] In 2005, he conducted the Tokyo Opera Nomori's debut of Richard Strauss’ Elektra. Ozawa has received a significant amount of criticism, especially from Boston music critic Greg Sandow, as he reports that some BSO members claim that Ozawa gives "no specific leadership in matters of tempo and rhythm", providing no "expression of care about sound quality."^[7] Despite the criticism, Ozawa serves a musical role model: an Asian performer who has not only attained fame in the West but has also devoted his life to fostering a global community within classical music.^[2]

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 Nomori.^[11]

Ozawa stepped down from his post at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, to be succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst.^[12]

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.^[13] He is a recipient of the 34th Suntory Music Award (2002) and the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

On January 7, 2010, Ozawa announced that he was canceling all engagements for six months in order to undergo treatments for esophageal cancer. The doctor with Ozawa at the time of the announcement said it was detected at an early stage.^[14][15]

He returned to work on July 26, 2010^[16], but promptly suffered further setbacks with a lumbar hernia. In August 2011 he conducted Bartok's Blubeard's Castle with the Saito Kinen orchestra in Matsumoto, prior to a tour of China. After a single, successful performance, he withdrew once more with pneumonia ^[17]. Doctors were hopeful of a prompt recovery.

Honorary degrees

Seiji Ozawa holds honorary doctorate degrees from Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, the University of Massachusetts, and Wheaton College.

Personal style

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.

Awards and honors

• 1958: Toho School of Music: 1st Prize in conducting and composition
• 1959: International Competition of Orchestra Conductors, Besançon, France
• 1960: Koussevitzky Prize for Outstanding Student Conductor, Tanglewood
• 1976: Emmy for "Evening at Symphony"
• 1992: Hans von Bülow Medal (given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
• 1994: Emmy for "Dvořák in Prague"
• 1994: Inouye Award, Japan
• 1998: Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, France
• 2001: Membership in the Academic des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France (Given by French President Jacques Chirac)
• 2001: Person of Cultural Merit, Japan
• 2002: Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class (Given by Austrian President Thomas Klestil)
• 2003: Mainichi Art Award and Suntory Music Prize
• 2004: Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France
• 2008: Order of Culture, Japan
• 2011: Praemium Imperiale, Japan

Recording labels

• Sony BMG
• RCA Victor
• Philips
• Deutsche Grammophon
• Universal Music Group
• EMI Classics
• Teldec

Bibliography

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

References

1. ^ "Seiji Ozawa". Naxos. http://www.naxos.com/conductorinfo/Seiji_Ozawa/32249.htm. Retrieved 17 August 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} James, Jamie “Seiji Ozawa”. Time Magazine , 5 November 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b} Green, Aaron “Conductor Seiji Ozawa”, 2007.
4. ^ ^{a b c} “Seiji Ozawa: Conductor”
5. ^ Nakasone, Yasuhiro (1999). The Making of the New Japan: Reclaiming the Political Mainstream. trans. Lesley Connors. Routledge. pp. 170–171. ISBN 0700712461. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0700712461&id=JBEz5Ot9yXoC&pg=PA170&lpg=PA170&vq=%22nhk+symphony+orchestra%22&sig=4qbn6mPkQuAl1tasKrLfgFZCKbY. 
6. ^ Anthony Tommasini (31 March 2002). "A Last Bow, To Polite Applause". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE2DB133BF932A05750C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Greg Sandow, "Conduct(or) unbecoming". Wall Street Journal, 15 December 1998.
8. ^ Lloyd Schwartz, "So long, Seiji!" Boston Phoenix, 25 April-2 May 2002.
9. ^ "Cultural Highlights; From the Japanese Press (August 1–October 31, 2001)," Japan Foundation Newsletter, Vol. XXIX, No. 2, p. 7.
10. ^ Great Performers, “From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2002”. PBS, 2001.
11. ^ Matthew Westphal (21 March 2007). "Seiji Ozawa Returns to Podium After More Than a Year". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6195.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
12. ^ Matthew Westphal (6 June 2007). "Vienna State Opera Appoints Dominique Meyer Its Next Director, with Franz Welser-Möst as Music Director". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6603.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
13. ^ "Donald Keene, 7 others win Order of Culture," Yomiuri Shimbun. October 29, 2008; 平成20年度 文化功労者及び文化勲章受章者について 平成20年度 文化勲章受章者（五十音順）－文部科学省 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan) Retrieved October 28, 2008
14. ^ Opera news press release, January 7, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
15. ^ The New York Times, January 7, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
16. ^ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100803a5.html
17. ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/08/seiji-suffers-minor-comeback-setback.html

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

Preceded by Claudio Abbado

Music Director, Vienna State Opera 2002–2010

Succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst

Preceded by William Steinberg

Music Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra 1973-2002

Succeeded by James Levine

Persondata
Name	Ozawa, Seiji
Alternative names
Short description	Japanese conductor
Date of birth	September 1, 1935
Place of birth	Shenyang, Manchukuo
Date of death
Place of death