First published on October 15
| Release date 18 October 2024 on 6 CDs/1 Blu-ray Disc Berliner Philharmoniker · Seiji Ozawa Works by Bartók, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bruckner, Haydn, Hindemith, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner |
| Berlin (15 October 2024) The Berliner Philharmoniker are posthumously dedicating a new comprehensive hardcover edition to their long-standing musical friend, companion and honorary member Seiji Ozawa. Previously unreleased and specially edited radio recordings from the years 1979 to 1996 document a particularly intensive and fruitful phase of collaboration. The selection of works in this edition also shows Ozawa’s stylistic diversity as well as his personal preferences – Austro-German Classicism and late Romanticism, French repertoire, and modern classics. But above all, these recordings convey Ozawa’s ability to make even highly complex music sound transparent and multi-faceted with the Philharmoniker thanks to his movements, which he himself described as being based on breathing. The six CDs feature works by Bartók, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bruch, Bruckner, Haydn, Hindemith, Mahler, Ravel, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Wagner. The edition also includes a Blu-ray disc with concert videos from 2009 and 2016, featuring Seiji Ozawa’s last concerts conducting at the Philharmonie Berlin. A bonus video shows Seiji Ozawa’s induction as an honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the detailed and very personally designed accompanying book, Ozawa’s daughter Seira and the writer Haruki Murakami, a friend of Ozawa’s, describe in articles their encounters and experiences with the Japanese conductor. It also contains many previously unpublished photos in which the violinist Gustav Zimmermann, a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker, captured their time together at close quarters. Seiji Ozawa was involved in the initial planning of this edition, and it was finalised in close consultation with his family. It will be available from 18 October 2024 at berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com and from selected specialist retailers. In the foreword to the edition, Eva-Maria Tomasi and Stefan Dohr, members of the orchestra board of the Berliner Philharmoniker, write: “Few other conductors had or have a relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker to match Seiji Ozawa’s. His musical abilities earned him the orchestra’s respect from the very outset. He knew his scores down to the smallest detail and knew precisely what he wanted. [ … ] That led not only to personally rewarding encounters: it also made possible the kind of music making in which freedom and spontaneity always had a place. [ … ] Seiji Ozawa was for us in every respect an inspiring artistic personality. In 2016, with joy and in gratitude, we made him our Honorary Member. [ … ] More than anything, however, we hope that these recordings convey the spirit of our partnership: a mutual ideal of musical dedication and human interchange.” Seiji Ozawa made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 1966 with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Jorge Bolet as the soloist, and Hindemith’s symphony Mathis der Maler. In the years that followed, he returned regularly to appear with the orchestra and conducted more than 85 programmes. In April 2016, the orchestra appointed Seiji Ozawa an honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker as an expression of their deep connection. Berliner Philharmoniker Seiji Ozawa Works included on 6 CDs: Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 2 C major Op. 72 Max Bruch: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, Pierre Amoyal, violin Maurice Ravel: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major, Martha Argerich, piano Béla Bartók: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, Sz 120, Wolfram Christ, viola Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 60 in C major “Il distratto” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13 “Winter Dreams” Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 Paul Hindemith: Symphonia Serena Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Op. 14 Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie Op. 64 Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde: Vorspiel und Liebestod Works included on the Blu-ray disc (video): Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont, Op. 84: Overture; Fantasy for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 80 “Choral Fantasy”, Peter Serkin, piano, Rundfunkchor Berlin Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah, Oratorio, Op. 70, Annette Dasch, Gal James, soprano, Nathalie Stutzmann, Nadine Weissmann, contralto, Paul O’Neill, Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor, Matthias Goerne, baritone, Fernando Javier Radó, bass, Rundfunkchor Berlin Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 in C minor (Linz version) Bonus: Seiji Ozawa becomes honorary member of the Berliner Philharmoniker |
Frustrating Colin. You list this item as a release on October 18th, as does the Berliner Philharmoniker’s own website…but just try and order it from a UK source in advance.
No sign of it on the main outlets….except on PRESTO, where a listing appears of just the Strauss Alpine Symphony….which confirms release on the 18th….. but only as a digital download.
Moreover, this comment also (almost) applies equally to the Charles Ives SONY – “The RCA and Columbia album anthology” (22 Cds) that you also list on your site. The slight variation here is that AMAZON UK does list it….which is where I have ordered it from.
Not quite sure what is going on here. Why alert you to a potential issue, so that you can faithfully post it on your site, only for the punter to find its unavailable?
Hi Ian, both the posts you refer to are official press releases. If you wanted to purchase the Ozawa set through the BP site, at present the yellow “Buy” button doesn’t respond but I imagine it will tomorrow, release day. Colin
Ian, as suspected, this Ozawa set can now be purchased on the BP site, link above (I just tested it), should you wish to. Colin
Thanks Colin. True to form the Ives set turned up this afternoon, obviously dispatched a day before it was ‘officially released’ !!
Heigh ho, at least it’s readily available from a, notionally, UK source. I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
Ian