Seiji Ozawa, who was born in China, said "I am half Chinese"

Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa died at home on February 6 at the age of 88.

Seiji Ozawa is perhaps the world-class conductor that Chinese are most familiar with.

He has studied with three conductors of the 20th century, Minhey, Karajan and Bernstein, and is one of the few oriental faces to break into the Western classical music scene.

Seiji Ozawa. Beijing Daily

Born in China and raised in the hutongs of Beijing

In the early 30s of the last century, Ozawa's father, Ozawa, worked as a dentist in Northeast China.

Seiji Ozawa was born in Shenyang in 1935.

The following year, the family moved to Beijing and moved into No. 69 Xinkailu Hutong. The pigeon whistle in the alley, the old house in the courtyard, and the stone gate pier at the gate......

The fragments of life in old Beijing are intertwined into the unforgettable memories of Seiji Ozawa's family.

"I'm half Chinese and half Japanese. Seiji Ozawa once said in his autobiography "Conducting Career" that all his memories before he went to elementary school were his impressions of Beijing.

The first music envoy after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States

Seiji Ozawa has brought a spring breeze of Western classical music to the Chinese music industry.

Before the reform and opening up, Seiji Ozawa came to China as a tourist.

On December 14, 1976, Seiji Ozawa flew to Beijing.

In the next few days, Ozawa climbed the Great Wall, visited Dingling, and went to Donglai Shun to eat shabu mutton.

Seiji Ozawa also took his father's portrait and revisited his childhood home. The old house in the courtyard is still there, and even the height mark carved on the pillar of the courtyard when he was a child is still vivid.

Seiji Ozawa also enjoyed the rehearsals of the Central Orchestra. To his surprise, there were no works by Western musicians such as Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mozart, etc., in the repertoire played by the Central Orchestra, only music by Chinese composers.

At parting, Seiji Ozawa said, "I'm an Oriental, but I'm ashamed that I do all Western music. With that, he began to weep bitterly.

In 1978, Seiji Ozawa made dumplings. Beijing Daily

In 1978, Seiji Ozawa was invited to visit China again.

On June 10 of that year, Seiji Ozawa arrived in Beijing.

This time, he collaborated with the Central Orchestra to perform two symphonic concerts for the Chinese.

The first performance was held in the auditorium of the Palace of National Culture. After each piece of music, the auditorium erupted in warm applause.

The second performance was held at the Capital Gymnasium, which was even more pompous.

In 1979, as the first musical envoy after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, he led the Boston Symphony Orchestra to perform in China, setting off a symphonic whirlwind in the land of China.

In the years since, he has visited China several times to promote musical exchanges between China and the world.

Unfinished love

Taste Peking duck. Xinhua News Agency

Seiji Ozawa's love affair with China is so strong that it can't be dissolved.

In 2002, Seiji Ozawa's mother passed away. With grief, he still insisted on coming to Beijing to conduct "Madame Butterfly".

Previously, he took his mother with him every time he came to China, and his mother was his audience for every performance.

This time, he could only carry the portrait of his mother to carry the baton.

In September 2011, Seiji Ozawa canceled his visit to China to conduct the opera Bluebeard Castle due to illness.

In order to express his apology, he recorded a video overnight during his illness for Chinese audiences. The first sentence is to say in Chinese: "I'm really sorry, I will definitely come to China next time!"

In just 3 minutes of video, he said "I'm sorry" 7 times. In the end, he said sincerely, "I hope you will wait for me next time." ”

Seiji Ozawa is probably the most frequent international conductor in China, no less than 10 times in more than 30 years.

Regrettably—

Seiji Ozawa could no longer go back to Beijing, and he could no longer go home in China.

Reference: Beijing Daily Cultural Weekly Chronicle Reporter: Zhang Xiaoying

Source: Beijing Daily client

Editor: Zeng Jiajia

Process Editor: Guo Dan