1935年生まれ、満州・奉天出身。幼いころからピアノを学び、桐朋学園で故齋藤秀雄に師事。59年、ブザンソン指揮者コンクールで第１位を獲得。その後、カラヤン、バーンスタインに師事。ニューヨーク・フィル副指揮者、シカゴ響ラヴィニア・フェスティバル音楽監督、トロント響音楽監督、サンフランシスコ響音楽監督を経て73年にボストン交響楽団の第13代音楽監督に就任。2002～10年、ウィーン国立歌劇場の音楽監督を務める。日本ではサイトウ・キネン・オーケストラを組織し、92年より国際的音楽祭“サイトウ・キネン・フェスティバル松本”の総監督に就任。

Berliner Philharmoniker

Mourning for Seiji Ozawa Feb 9?, 2024
The honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker has died at the age of 88

Seiji Ozawa
(Photo: Holger Kettner)
The Berliner Philharmoniker mourns the death of honorary member Seiji Ozawa, who died on 6 February 2024, at the age of 88. Eva-Maria Tomasi and Stefan Dohr, orchestra board members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, said: “For us as an orchestra, Seiji Ozawa was more than a highly-esteemed conductor. His great technical skill, his perfect knowledge of the score and his friendly, modest, honest and humorous manner made him a close friend and companion to the orchestra since his debut in 1966. We are very grateful that we were able to make music with him once again in April 2016, and we bow our heads in respect for this great conductor and wonderful person. Our thoughts are with his family.”

In 1966, Seiji Ozawa made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker – at around the same time as Claudio Abbado. Both conductors were “discovered” by Herbert von Karajan; the press was full of praise for the maestro’s unerring instinct for talent. Seiji Ozawa, winner of the conducting competition in Besançon, winner of the Koussevitzky Prize, and former assistant to Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, had only been Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for a year at the time, and had recently made his acclaimed debut in Salzburg. His “creative energy” – according to the press after his Berlin debut – was remarkable, and he was celebrated as a “conducting Paganini”. He conducted Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Hindemith’s Symphony Mathis der Maler – a programme that was to become typical of future concerts.

Classical, romantic, modern
Whenever Ozawa stepped onto the podium of the Berliner Philharmoniker – as he did regularly from then on – the programme was always both classical and romantic, often spiced up with a pinch of modernism. Over the years, he has also introduced Berlin audiences to works by his Japanese compatriots: Takemitsu’s November Steps and Requiem as well as Ishii’s Polarities for orchestra; but also Messiaen’s opera Saint François d’Assise, which the conductor premiered in Paris in 1983, presenting excerpts from the work with the Berliner Philharmoniker three years later. Seiji Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor to achieve world fame. He gained a profound understanding of Western classical music from his teacher and mentor Hideo Saitō, who taught him at the Tōhō Academy of Music in Tokyo. According to Ozawa in an interview for the Digital Concert Hall, he owed a great deal to Hideo Saitō. At a time when there was virtually no knowledge of Western music culture in Japan, Saitō, who had studied in Germany, taught his pupil the essentials of classical music. More than anyone else, Herbert von Karajan helped him in the development of a representative repertoire.

Permanent guest conductor
Ozawa was head of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years, and music director of the Vienna State Opera from 2002 to 2010. Despite his many international commitments, he always found time for guest appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Before cancer forced him to cancel his planned concerts in 2009, and caused him to largely withdraw from musical life, he often came to the Berliner Philharmoniker twice per concert season. Of the many concerts that Ozawa conducted, a few events stand out as musical beacons: the commemorative concerts to mark the 100th anniversary of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1982 and Herbert von Karajan’s 100th birthday in 2008; the Philharmoniker’s first concert in the newly-opened Suntory Hall in Tokyo; the New Year’s Eve concert in 1989; and the Waldbühne concerts in 1993 and 2003.

Seiji Ozawa gave his last concerts after a seven-year break in April 2016. Weakened by his illness, but still full of passion, he conducted a half-concert programme with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and the Choral Fantasy [after a performance by a chamber music ensemble]. It was a moving event for the conductor and the orchestra, which Ozawa made an honorary member during this performance. What made the Berliner Philharmoniker so special for Seiji Ozawa? “Every member plays like a chamber musician. That is very important. I think that’s what makes up the tradition of the orchestra.”

To mark the occasion, the Digital Concert Hall is making the concert with Seiji Ozawa from 17 May 2009 available free of charge.

「指揮台でバレエのような優雅さ」「東アジアの偏見を払拭」…小沢征爾さん死去、海外からも追悼 2024/02/10 読売新聞

　世界的指揮者の小沢征爾さんの死去を受け、かつて小沢さんが音楽監督を務めた米欧の名門楽団は哀悼の意を表明した。海外メディアも相次いで悲報を伝え、小沢さんの業績をたたえた。

小沢征爾さん「日本初」「東洋初」世界に挑戦続けた人生…ボストン交響楽団「親切で思慮深い人道主義者だった」ウィーン・フィル伝統の「ニューイヤー・コンサート」で指揮を執る小沢征爾さん（２００２年１月１日）＝ＡＰ

　米国のボストン交響楽団は「伝説的な指揮者としてだけでなく、将来世代の音楽家たちの情熱的な指導者としても記憶している。親切で思慮深い人道主義者で、指揮台でバレエのような優雅さと驚異的な記憶力を併せ持った音楽の天才だった」とする声明を発表した。

　ウィーン国立歌劇場は「最も重要な国際的指揮者の一人だった。国立歌劇場の歴史の一端を築き上げ、発展に貢献した」と弔意を示した。劇場支配人は「カリスマ的、衝撃的、本物で、無尽蔵とも思えるエネルギーを蓄えていた。彼に心を奪われないことなど不可能だった」と振り返った。劇場には弔旗を掲げるという。　また深い関係にあり、小沢さんが名誉団員だったベルリン・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団も「私たちにとって高く評価される指揮者以上の存在で、親密な友人であり同志であり続けた」と楽団員代表がしのんだ。

　米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズはその業績を紹介し、「東アジアのクラシック音楽家への偏見を 払拭ふっしょく することに貢献した」と伝えた。ＡＰ通信は「しなやかな表現力で観客を驚かせた」と評価した。　中国メディアは、小沢さんが現在の遼寧省瀋陽で生まれ、中国を何度も訪れたと報じた。ＳＮＳでは「小沢先生は中国人の古い友人だ」と惜しむ声が相次いだ。（ベルリン　中西賢司、ニューヨーク　山本貴徳、瀋陽　出水翔太朗）

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