In his prime, Seiji Ozawa was like a breath of counterculture fresh air, assuming the podium in mop top, turtleneck, and love beads. Later, perhaps, he overextended himself, raising a family in Japan while putting the Boston Symphony Orchestra through its paces.
But routine performances cannot take away from a lifetime of achievements.
Ozawa was the first and most prominent Japanese conductor to wow the West with his mastery of the European classics.
As a young man, his talent and tenacity carried him to France (he arrived on a cargo ship, with a scooter and a guitar), where he attracted the attention of then-BSO music director Charles Munch. Munch invited him to study at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, the orchestra’s summer home. Ozawa then studied with Herbert von Karajan in Berlin and was taken under the wing of Leonard Bernstein, who appointed him assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1961.
Ozawa’s breakout post was with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he was installed, on Bernstein’s recommendation, in 1965. He served as music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1970 to 1976.
For decades – 29 years, in fact, beginning in 1973 – he was Boston’s music director and enjoyed many successes, both on the orchestra’s home turf and elsewhere. However, the consensus among players, critics, and audiences is that he stayed too long.
During his time in Boston, he remained active on the other side of the globe. He became honorary music director of the Japan Philharmonic (now the New Japan Philharmonic). He also helped found the Saito Kinen Orchestra, named for cellist and conductor Hideo Saito, a principal mentor during Ozawa’s youth.
Other posts included an early appointment as artistic director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, co-artistic director (with Gunther Schuller) of the Berkshire Music Center, and much later, artistic director of JapanNYC.
Ozawa left Boston for the Vienna State Opera, where he served until 2010. Alas, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Health issues predominated for the rest of his life. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2010. More recently, he was hospitalized with heart valve disease. His convalescence was complicated by sciatica. It was painful to see such an energetic presence diminished in his later years.
In some respects, he remains underrated. His legacy was marred, no doubt, by his extended tenure in Boston, which lent him high visibility, even as he ruffled feathers and outstayed his welcome. Back in Japan, he received scorn from older players for being too Westernized.
But he excelled especially in contemporary music (including that of his compatriot Toru Takemitsu), the Russian classics, and in opulent orchestral showpieces. He could be extraordinarily adept at managing the large forces required of monumental works such as Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem,” Arthur Honegger’s “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher,” and Arnold Schoenberg’s “Gurrelieder.” He led the world premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s “Saint François d’Assise” at the Paris Opera and concert performances of Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” in Boston.
Ozawa died at his home in Tokyo on Tuesday. The cause of death was reported as heart failure. He was 88 years old. R.I.P.
Ozawa conducts gorgeous Gabriel Fauré
Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” incidental music, with Judi Dench
Introduced by Bernstein on one of his “Young People’s Concerts”
In 1963, as a contestant on “What’s My Line?” – on the same episode with Woody Allen and Peter, Paul and Mary
Conducting the Muppets (with Placido Flamingo)
At Bernstein’s 70th birthday
I was just listening to this yesterday, for John Williams’ birthday – “Tributes! For Seiji”
Takemitsu, with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter
Ozawa as I’ll always remember him, with the love beads, in a live performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s late Romantic masterpiece, “Gurrelieder”
PHOTO: Ozawa rehearsing the BSO with Jessye Norman in Frankfurt in 1988
