Word: ozawa
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...Ozawa came to the BSO in 1973, and in his first three seasons was also music director of the San Francisco Symphony. His tenure has not been without controversy. There was the occasional grumbling about working for a “jet-set” conductor with tedious rehearsal habits. Certain critics found his Baroque and Classical repertoire interpretations unsatisfying and uninformed, though anyone who heard him conduct a marvelous Bach Mass in B Minor last season can certainly refute that claim. However, his innumerable contributions are often overlooked. Audiences and musicians alike have responded to his passionate podium presence...
...piece. Leonard Bernstein, in his 1973 Norton lectures here at Harvard, defined the symphony as a farewell to life, tonality and “our Faustian society.” There was no doubt, however, that the BSO’s concert was a lovingly performed farewell to Ozawa...
...goes without saying that Ozawa conducted the symphony without a score, and indeed his capacity for memorizing works is one of the great wonders of the conducting world. He displayed his natural and fluid podium style; conducting batonless and swaying hypnotically with the music, his sweeping horizontal gestures moved the half-hour first movement Andante comodo along. He chose his tempi with the utmost of care; the opening movement was convincingly played, its construction logically laid out, its peaks ecstatic and its valleys expansive. When one thinks of all the great conductors who have left recordings of the work?...
...closest we have ever come, in any work of art, to experiencing the very act of dying. The slowness of this page is terrifying.” As the final notes died out, an interval of silent, respectful awe finally gave way to a thundering standing ovation for Ozawa. A humble and diminutive man, he repeatedly acknowledged BSO timpanist Vic Firth, who is retiring this season after 50 years with the orchestra...
...served as a moving and fitting end to Ozawa’s long and distinguished tenure here in Boston. It was impossible not to be swept up in the moment. As elated, teary-eyed patrons made their way out of Symphony Hall, it became quite obvious just how much Ozawa has meant to all who have had the privilege of hearing him conduct the BSO. Ozawa will appear for three more concerts with the BSO at Tanglewood from July 12-14 before leaving for Vienna. Music Director-designate James Levine, who has already been given a warm, extended welcome...