Seiji Ozawa

Object Details

Artist

Jérôme De Perlinghi, born 1961

Sitter

Seiji Ozawa, born 1 Sep 1935

Exhibition Label

Seiji Ozawa made history in 1972 when he accepted the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s offer to serve as music director for its 1973–74 season, thus becoming the youngest principal conductor and the first of Asian heritage to helm that storied orchestra. Mentored earlier in his career by the legendary Leonard Bernstein, who hired him as an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1960, Ozawa was only twenty-five when he took the podium at Carnegie Hall for his debut with that orchestra in 1961. His association with the Philharmonic was followed by conducting duties for several major North American orchestras, including the Chicago, Toronto, and San Francisco symphonies. But it was during his twenty-nine seasons in Boston (1973–2002) that Ozawa solidified his reputation as a brilliant and facile conductor who relished classical and romantic repertory but who also delighted in championing a range of challenging works by modern composers.

Seiji Ozawa hizo historia en 1972 cuando aceptó la oferta de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Boston para ser director musical en su temporada 1973-74, convirtiéndose en el titular más joven, y el primero de origen asiático, a la cabeza de esa ilustre orquesta. En una etapa temprana de su carrera, tuvo como mentor al legendario Leonard Bernstein, quien lo contrató como director asistente de la Filarmónica de Nueva York en 1960. Ozawa tenía tan solo veinticinco años cuando subió al podio en Carnegie Hall para debutar con esa orquesta en 1961. Su asociación con la Filarmónica fue seguida de labores directoriales con varias orquestas norteamericanas importantes, entre ellas las sinfónicas de Chicago, Toronto y San Francisco. Pero fue durante sus veintinueve temporadas en Boston (1973-2002) que Ozawa consolidó su reputación como un director brillante y desenvuelto que se deleitaba con el repertorio clásico y romántico, pero que también se complacía en promover estimulantes obras de compositores modernos.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

2001

Object number

NPG.2015.14

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© 2001 Jerome De Perlinghi

Type

Photograph

Medium

Selenium-toned gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 34.2 × 34 cm (13 7/16 × 13 3/8")

Sheet: 44.9 × 39.8 cm (17 11/16 × 15 11/16")

Place

United States\Illinois\Cook\Chicago

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Interior

Costume\Jewelry\Ring

Seiji Ozawa: Male

Seiji Ozawa: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Conductor

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2015.14

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm483769aff-dc96-4ed8-801e-66dff733c7ae