Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾, Ozawa Seiji; September 1, 1935 – February 6, 2024) was a Japanese conductor who worked with many famous orchestras around the world. He led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) for 29 years, from 1973 to 2002. After conducting the Vienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he became the director of the Vienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he started the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, created their festival in 1992, and founded the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.

Ozawa became famous after winning the 1959 Besançon competition. Charles Munch, who was the music director of the BSO at the time, invited him to Tanglewood, the orchestra’s summer home, the next year. There, Ozawa studied with Munch and Pierre Monteux. Winning the Koussevitzky Prize at the festival gave him a scholarship to work with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. This helped Leonard Bernstein notice him, and Bernstein made Ozawa his assistant with the New York Philharmonic in 1961. In 1970, Ozawa became the artistic director of the festival and education programs at Tanglewood, along with Gunther Schuller. In 1994, the main hall at Tanglewood was named after him.

Ozawa conducted the first performances of several important musical works, including György Ligeti’s San Francisco Polyphony in 1975 and Olivier Messiaen’s opera Saint François d'Assise in Paris in 1983. He received many international awards. Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor to gain worldwide recognition and the only one to reach superstar status.

Life and career

Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935, to Japanese parents in the Japanese-occupied city of Mukden, now called Shenyang. He began piano lessons when he was seven years old. In 1944, his family returned to Japan, and he started studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, focusing on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

After graduating from Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa broke two fingers during a rugby game. His teacher, Hideo Saito, from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, took him to see a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5. This experience changed Ozawa’s focus from playing the piano to conducting. He studied conducting and composition, winning first prizes in both areas. While still a student, he worked with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Japan Philharmonic. He graduated in 1957.

Ozawa traveled to Europe to continue his studies. He supported himself by selling Japanese motor scooters. In 1959, he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France, which brought him international attention. Charles Munch, then the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, invited Ozawa to study at the Berkshire Music Center (now called the Tanglewood Music Center) the next year. There, Ozawa won the Koussevitzky Prize, Tanglewood’s highest honor, which earned him a scholarship to study conducting with Herbert von Karajan.

Ozawa moved to West Berlin. Under Karajan’s guidance, Ozawa caught the attention of Leonard Bernstein, who made him an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Ozawa worked there during the 1961–1962 and 1964–1965 seasons. He first conducted at Carnegie Hall in 1961 and first conducted the San Francisco Symphony in 1962. Ozawa is the only conductor to have studied under both Karajan and Bernstein. In December 1962, some members of the NHK Symphony Orchestra refused to play under Ozawa, so he conducted the Japan Philharmonic instead. In July 1963, Ozawa appeared on the American television show What's My Line? while in New York.

From 1964 to 1968, Ozawa was the first music director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1969, he became the festival’s principal conductor. He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time in 1966 at the Salzburg Festival.

Ozawa’s first job as a music director was leading the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) from 1965 to 1969. Many of the works he performed, such as symphonies by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler, were new to him. He described the audience as patient and supportive in later interviews. Concerts were held at Massey Hall, including performances for the opening of Toronto’s new city hall in 1965, the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Glasgow, and Expo 67 in Montreal.

Ozawa recorded notable works with the TSO, including Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique in 1966, which received high praise from music critics. In 1967, he and the TSO recorded Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie, a piece commissioned by Koussevitzky and first conducted by Bernstein. Ozawa’s version was the first in North America, and Yvonne Loriod, the pianist from the premiere, performed with him. The recording was nominated for a Grammy Award. When it was reissued on CD in 2004, a reviewer said it still stood out among modern recordings. The composer, Messiaen, later entrusted Ozawa with conducting the premiere of his opera Saint François d'Assise in Paris in 1983.

In 1969, Ozawa and the TSO recorded an album of four works by Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu: Asterism for Piano and Orchestra, Requiem for String Orchestra, Green for Orchestra (November Steps II), and The Dorian Horizon for 17 Strings.

Ozawa was the music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1970 to 1976. In San Francisco, he combined Bernstein’s charismatic style with the culture of the West Coast, wearing long hair and flowery shirts. He sometimes conducted programs that included different types of music. In 1972, he led the San Francisco Symphony in its first commercial recordings in a decade, featuring music inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In 1973, he took the orchestra on a European tour, including a Paris concert broadcast via satellite to San Francisco.

In 1974, Ozawa was involved in a dispute with the San Francisco Symphony’s players’ committee, which denied tenure to two young musicians he had chosen. During this time, he supported contemporary music, such as commissioning San Francisco Polyphony by György Ligeti in 1975. Critics praised his ability to interpret complex scores and his graceful stage presence.

In 1970, Ozawa and Gunther Schuller became artistic directors of the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Ozawa became the BSO’s music director in 1973 and held the position for 29 years, the longest tenure of any director there. He conducted many world premieres, including works by Ligeti and Takemitsu.

Ozawa won his first Emmy Award in 1976 for the BSO’s PBS television series Evening at Symphony. In 1994, he won a second Emmy for Dvořák in Prague: A Celebration. He played a key role as a teacher and administrator at the Tanglewood Music Center, which offers programs for young professionals and high school students. In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall, “Seiji Ozawa Hall,” in his honor. Ozawa was named music director laureate for his impact on the BSO.

On October 24, 1974, Ozawa conducted a Japanese combined orchestra that included the Toho Gakuen School of Music Orchestra and members of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert, broadcast on PBS in the United States, featured soloists Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi (cello) and Nobuko Imai (viola) performing works by Beethoven and Strauss.

In December 1979, Ozawa conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra. This was the first live performance of the symphony in the People’s Republic of China since 1961, when Western music was banned.

Ozawa performed works by his countryman Tōru Takemitsu, including Orion and Pleiades for cello and orchestra. In October 1990, he performed the piece with cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and the Boston Symphony Orchestra to honor Takemitsu’s 60th birthday.

Ozawa made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1992, conducting Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Mirella Freni as Tatyana. He returned in 2008 for The Queen of Spades, both productions described as passionate and electrifying.

In 1996–1997, Ozawa caused controversy by demanding changes at the Tanglewood Music Center, arguing the organization had become too

Honorary degrees

Ozawa received honorary doctorate degrees from Sorbonne University, Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the National University of Music in Bucharest, and Wheaton College. He was an Honorary Member of the International Music Council.

Discography

• Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73 (suite). Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1977 – DG
• Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto for Orchestra. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1994 – Philips
• Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1977 – DG
• Bartók: Viola Concerto. Berlin Philharmonic, 1992, 1989 – DG
• Berg: Violin Concerto. Itzhak Perlman (violin), Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1980 – DGG
• Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique. Toronto Symphony Orchestra, 1966 – RCA / Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1973 – DG
• Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1976 – DG
• Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1993 – RCA
• Berlioz: La damnation de Faust. Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Edith Mathis, Stuart Burrows, Donald McIntyre, 1974 – DG
• Berlioz: Nuits d'été. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Frederica von Stade, 1984 – Sony
• Brahms: Symphony No. 1. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1977 – DG
• Debussy: La damoiselle élue. Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Susanne Mentzer, Frederica von Stade, 1984 – Sony
• Dutilleux: The Shadows of Time. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1998 – Erato
• Dvořák: Dvořák in Prague: A Celebration. Prague Philharmonic Chorus, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Firkušný, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Frederica von Stade, 1994 – Sony, and 2007 – Kultur Video
• Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor. Mstislav Rostropovich, Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1987 – Erato
• Falla: El sombrero de tres picos. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Berganza, 1977 – DG
• Franck: Symphony in D minor. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1993 – DG
• Gounod: Faust. Alberto Cupido, Rosalind Plowright, Simon Estes, Juan Pons, Chœurs de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, 1989 – DG
• Ives: Symphony No. 4; Central Park in the Dark. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1976 – DG
• Lalo: Symphonie espagnole. Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Orchestre National de France, 1984 – EMI