China News Service, February 9. According to Japanese media reports on February 9, Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa died at home on the 6th at the age of 88. Seiji Ozawa was born in 1935. He was the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera. He is famous for his exciting conducting style.
Data map: The famous Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa.
His dynamic command gestures seem to possess peerless martial arts skills
His iconic gray hair, wearing a crew-neck shirt or black suit, rich movements... When people talk about Seiji Ozawa, his figure on stage will always come to people's minds.
In 1935, Seiji Ozawa was born in Shenyang, China. The next year, he moved to Beijing with his family. In his memory, the newly opened alley opposite Union Hospital was a different color from his childhood.
After World War II, he moved back to Tokyo, Japan, and began studying piano. However, in a physical education class, he had an accident while playing rugby and broke his finger. His piano dream came to an abrupt end, but it also inadvertently started his life as a legendary conductor.
Seiji Ozawa possesses the most enviable talent of all conductors - "photographic memory". His conducting followed the original score, yet was delicate and profound. "I can remember the appearance of each page of music and turn it over for myself in my mind," said Ozawa Seiji.
Throughout his life, Seiji Ozawa received many honors: becoming an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, receiving the Kennedy Center Honors, and being received by former U.S. President Obama... These achievements can be traced back to his overnight fame when he was young, and His "Bo Le" - the three greatest conductors of the 20th century.
In 1959, Seiji Ozawa became famous at the Besançon World Conducting Competition. A year later, he won first place in the Berkshire Music Festival conducting competition. From this, he was able to study with Munchy, then the permanent conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Later, he won the first prize in the International Karajan Conducting Competition and was fortunate enough to be mentored by the master conductor Karajan. In 1961, Ozawa was accepted as a disciple of Bernstein and was also hired as the deputy conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He was not yet 27 when all this happened.
Data map: Seiji Ozawa.
He can see the street at four o'clock in the morning every day
"Every morning at four o'clock in the morning, the lights turn on in Ozawa's room, and he starts reading the score. I didn't expect that he was so diligent." Japanese composer Takemitsu Toru once sighed when he stayed at Ozawa Seiji's place. . Ozawa Seiji's success has never relied solely on luck.
After he became Bernstein's assistant, he simply could not make ends meet due to the meager salary. There was no air conditioning in the summer, so he had to sleep in a 24-hour movie theater and live in a semi-basement, with little sunlight all day long. But in such an environment, Ozawa still studied music scores assiduously and practiced his skills diligently, becoming a "frequent guest" in the concert hall.
When recalling the scene when he first went abroad to conduct, Seiji Ozawa said that he was not very good at foreign languages at that time. “I just looked at everyone with my eyes. Unexpectedly, music critics said that my eyes exuded amazing energy. The smile lines on my face are filled with 100,000 volts of electricity."
The picture shows the information map of Seiji Ozawa.
Unfortunately, Ozawa, who has a bright smile, has been struggling with illness since he entered his seventies. Starting in 2006, Ozawa first suffered from pneumonia and herpes zoster, and at the end of 2009, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Since then, his health has fluctuated and he often lingers on his bedside. Even so, Seiji Ozawa did not give up his love for the stage.
In August 2010, Seiji Ozawa, who reappeared in people's field of vision after half a year, lost a lot of weight. He sighed: "I didn't expect that one operation actually caused me to lose 15 kilograms of weight... My feet hurt so much that I had to sit down and rest after taking only 6 steps." But that day, he also held a public rehearsal for his comeback.
He said: "After fighting the disease, I have a deeper understanding of the connotation of life and art. Today is the first time to conduct in public after recuperation. I feel that I have ushered in the second spring of my life."
"For Mr. Ozawa, music is the indispensable fuel of life... Only by weaving music with his own hands, giving it fresh life, and then presenting it to the public (or even, it should be said, only through this process), he Only then can you feel that you are truly alive." Writer Haruki Murakami once wrote in "Afternoon Music Time with Seiji Ozawa".
The picture shows the information map of Seiji Ozawa.
"Half Chinese"
"It's incredible. I was born in Shenyang, China. Sometimes I think I am half Chinese." In 2008, Seiji Ozawa was invited to conduct the first New Year's concert of the National Center for the Performing Arts of China. During the rehearsal, he told reporters word for word.
In 1976, he returned to China with his father's portrait, fulfilling his father's wish to return to China. For a period of time, Ozawa Seiji always took time to return to his "home" at No. 69 Xinkai Road Hutong - this house also became the link between him and Beijing.
Previously, some media reported that his friends planted a cherry blossom tree in the yard, and his mother was buried under the tree. Going back to talk about new things under the cherry blossom trees and bringing some gifts to the neighbors became Ozawa Seiji's concern.
Of course, the Chinese people's affinity for Seiji Ozawa stems not only from the fact that he was born in Shenyang and grew up in Beijing, but also because of his deep feelings for China.
In 1978, Seiji Ozawa came to China to collaborate with the Central Orchestra. The next year, he also led the Boston Symphony Orchestra to visit China to perform to commemorate the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. He brought the sound of the first world-class symphony orchestra to China after the reform and opening up, and opened up the world to classical music workers and lovers. window……
Turning the time back to 2008, the 72-year-old Seiji Ozawa still had bright eyes on the stage and brought unforgettable music to the Chinese audience. Listen carefully, maybe the vitality of the performance is still stirring in that concert. And Seiji Ozawa is still waving the baton passionately and candidly.