Biography
Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾, Ozawa Seiji, September 1, 1935 – February 6, 2024) was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After conducting the Vienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he was director of the Vienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, their festival in 1992, and the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.
Ozawa rose to fame after he won the 1959 Besançon competition and was invited by Charles Munch, then the music director of the BSO, for the following year to Tanglewood, the orchestra's summer home, where he studied with Munch and Pierre Monteux. Winning the festival's Koussevitzky Prize earned him a scholarship with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic and brought him to the attention of Leonard Bernstein, who made him his assistant with the New York Philharmonic in 1961. He became artistic director of the festival and education program in Tanglewood in 1970, together with Gunther Schuller. In 1994, the new main hall there was named after him.
Ozawa conducted world premieres such as György Ligeti's San Francisco Polyphony in 1975 and Olivier Messiaen's opera Saint François d'Assise in Paris in 1983. He received numerous international awards. Ozawa was the first Japanese conductor recognized internationally and the only one of superstar status.
Filmography
all 21
Movies 17
self 12
TV Shows 4
Director 1
Seiji Ozawa dirige la "Symphonie n°7" de Beethoven (2018)
Seiji Ozawa — Back to Japan (2018)
The Young Romantic (2008)
Karajan: Beauty As I See It (2008)
Herbert Von Karajan Memorial Concert (2008)
L'heure espagnole (2004)
New Year's Concert 2002 (2002)
New Year's Concert: 2002 - Vienna Philharmonic (2002)
Waldbühne Berlin: Russian Night (1999)
Dvorak in Prague: A Celebration (1993)
Jessye Norman Sings Carmen (1990)
Silvesterkonzert der Berliner Philharmoniker 1989 - Carmina Burana (1989)
Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie: An All-Star Musical Special (1988)
Tanglewood: A Place for Music (1985)
Ozawa (1985)
Great Performances (1971)
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (1958)
Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker (1941)
Seiji Ozawa Tchaikovsky Symphony no.6 in B Minor
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7 - Saito Kinen Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Evening at Symphony
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1935-09-01
Deathday2024-02-06 (88 years old)
Birth PlaceShenyang, China
RelationshipsKyoko Edo (1962-01-01 - 1966-01-01), Miki Irie (1968-01-01 - 2024-02-06)
ChildrenSeira Ozawa, Yukiyoshi Ozawa
FatherKaisaku Ozawa
SiblingsToshio Ozawa, Mikio Ozawa
CitizenshipsJapan
ResidencesSetagaya-ku, Japan
Also Known As小澤 征爾, おざわ せいじ
AwardsKikuchi Kan Prize, Order of Friendship, Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors, Person of Cultural Merit, Kennedy Center Honors, Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis, Asahi Prize, Order of Culture, Praemium Imperiale, Emmy Award, Hans von Bülow Medal, Officer of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Legion of Honour
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