Charismatic Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years and delighted audiences with his energetic style, died at his home in Tokyo aged 88, his management team announced on Friday.
Ozawa conquered the world of Western classical music, bringing an East Asian sensibility to his work with some of the world’s most celebrated orchestras, from Chicago to Boston to Vienna.
“Conductor Seiji Ozawa passed away peacefully at his home on February 6th, 2024, at the age of 88,” his management team wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Photo: AFP
He died of heart failure and the funeral was attended by close relatives according to his wishes, the statement said.
Ozawa was born in 1935 in the Chinese province of Manchuria, then a Japanese colony, and started learning piano at elementary school. He broke two fingers as a teenager while playing rugby — another passion — and switched to conducting.
He moved abroad in 1959 and met some of the greatest luminaries of the classical music world, including the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, becoming his assistant at the New York Philharmonic in the 1961-1962 season.
Ozawa went on to lead orchestras in Chicago, Toronto and San Francisco. He was the longest-serving conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) with a 29-year stint as musical director. A concert hall was named for him at Tanglewood, the group’s summer home in western Massachusetts.
He left in 2002 to become chief conductor at the Vienna State Opera until 2010.
The Vienna Philharmonic, with which Ozawa first collaborated at the 1966 Salzburg Festival, paid tribute to his “loving interaction with his colleagues and his charisma.”
“It was a gift to be able to go a long way with this artist, who was characterized by the highest musical standards and at the same time humility towards the treasures of musical culture,” Vienna Philharmonic chairman Daniel Froschauer said in a statement.
BSO conductor Andris Nelsons called Ozawa “a great friend, a brilliant role model, and an exemplary musician and leader” in a tribute on X accompanied by a photograph of the pair.
“He has been an inspiration to me all my life and I will miss him dearly,” Nelsons wrote.
In a separate statement from the orchestra, he recalled Ozawa’s “enthusiasm for the city and people of Boston, Tanglewood — and the Boston Red Sox.”
In-demand operatic soprano Christine Goerke said the opportunity “to make music and experience such joy and belly aching laughter with this extraordinary human being has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.”
“I am in tears this morning, but am beyond grateful for you, Seiji Ozawa. Safe home, Maestro, and thank you,” Goerke wrote on X.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
Czech intelligence chief Michal Koudelka has spent decades uncovering Russian spy networks, sabotage attempts and disinformation campaigns against Europe. Speaking in an interview from a high-security compound on the outskirts of Prague, he is now warning allies that pushing Kyiv to accept significant concessions to end the war in Ukraine would only embolden the Kremlin. “Russia would spend perhaps the next 10 to 15 years recovering from its huge human and economic losses and preparing for the next target, which is central and eastern Europe,” said Koudelka, a major general who heads the country’s Security Information Service. “If Ukraine loses, or is forced
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
RSS