Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major Berliner Philharmoniker & Seiji Ozawa

• Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896): Symphony No. 7 in E Major:
• 1 Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major: I. Allegro moderato 20:43
• 2 Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major: II. Adagio. Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam 22:22
• 3 Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major: III. Scherzo. Sehr schnell - Trio. Etwas langsamer 09:39
• 4 Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major: IV. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht schnell 12:01
• Total Runtime 01:04:45

Info for Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major

Es war mehr als das gemeinsame Atmen in der Musik, das diese Beziehung so außergewöhnlich machte: Schon bei der ersten Begegnung mit den Berliner Philharmonikern 1966 erwarb sich Seiji Ozawa den Respekt und die Zuneigung des Orchesters. Der junge Japaner wusste am Pult genau, was er wollte, seine Partituren kannte er bis ins kleinste Detail. Dennoch drängte der Dirigent – stets höflich und nahbar – dem Orchester seine Ansichten nie auf. Daraus entstand eine Partnerschaft auf Augenhöhe, die nicht nur zwischenmenschlich beglückend war, sondern vor allem ein Musizieren ermöglichte, in dem Freiheit und Spontaneität immer Raum hatten. Unsere Edition versteht sich als Hommage an diese besondere Freundschaft mit Seiji Ozawa, den die Berliner Philharmoniker 2016 zu ihrem Ehrenmitglied ernannten.

Die Uraufführung von Bruckners siebter Symphonie im Jahr 1884 war ein sofortiger Publikumserfolg. Mit diesem gewaltigen Werk gelang Bruckner, der bereits über 60 Jahre alt war und dem Ruhm und Anerkennung lange versagt blieben, der lang ersehnte Durchbruch. Das Schlüsselwerk zu diesem späten Triumph war die Siebte Symphonie. Zwischen September 1881 und Herbst 1883 komponiert, ebnete sie den Weg für eine breitere Akzeptanz seiner Musik. Ein Grund für ihren Erfolg war, dass Bruckner von den Anhängern Richard Wagners ausgewählt wurde, um die Lücke zu füllen, die der Tod des Bayreuther Meisters im Februar 1883 hinterlassen hatte. Die Siebte Symphonie zeugt somit von Bruckners Verehrung für Wagner, die sich sowohl in gewissen instrumentalen und melodischen Ähnlichkeiten mit der Motivwelt des „Rings“ als auch in der ausdrücklichen Widmung des zentralen Adagio-Satzes der Symphonie „dem Andenken des seligen, geliebten, unsterblichen Meisters“ zeigt. Bruckners Hommage nimmt die Form einer erschütternden Trauermusik an - ein erschütterndes Wagner-Epitaph. Die Symphonie, die Ludwig II. von Bayern gewidmet ist, wurde am 30. Dezember 1884 vom Leipziger Gewandhausorchester unter Arthur Nikisch uraufgeführt.

Berliner Philharmoniker
Seiji Ozawa, Dirigent

Seiji Ozawa
Born 1935 in Shenyang, China. Seiji Ozawa studied piano from a young age, and after graduating from Seijo Junior High School, he went on to study conducting under Hideo Saito at the Toho School of Music.

In 1959, he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors held in Besançon, France, and was invited the next summer to Tanglewood by Charles Munch, who was a judge at the competition and music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the time. He proceeded to study under Karajan and Bernstein and went on to serve as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Ravinia Festival, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the San Francisco Symphony. In 1973, he became the 13th music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where his tenure of 29 years was the longest in the history of American orchestras.

As music director of BSO, he built the orchestra’s reputation nationally as well as internationally, with successful concerts in Europe in 1976 and Japan in March 1978. In March 1981, BSO toured 14 cities in America to commemorate its centennial and then executed a worldwide tour in fall of the same year, with stops in Japan, France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom. It went on to perform in Europe in 1984, 1988, and 1991, and Japan in 1986 and 1989, all to great acclaim.

In 1978, Ozawa was officially invited by the Chinese government to work with the China Central Symphony Orchestra for a week. A year later in March 1979, Ozawa visited China again, this time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to orchestra performances, he facilitated significant cultural and musical exchanges through discussions and teaching sessions with Chinese musicians. He has since continued to build a strong relationship with China.

In autumn 2002, Ozawa became music director at Wiener Staatsoper, a position he held until spring 2010. His reputation and popularity are enormous in Europe, where he has conducted many orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has also appeared in prominent opera houses such as Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, l’Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opera di Firenze, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In Japan, Ozawa formed the Saito Kinen Orchestra with Kazuyoshi Akiyama in 1984 to commemorate their late mentor, Hideo Saito. The orchestra held greatly successful concerts in Tokyo and Osaka and went on to tour Europe in 1987, 1989, and 1990. In 1991, it performed concerts in Europe and America and was received with great accolades. These activities lead to the inception of Ozawa’s artistic dream in 1992: the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. Ozawa became director of this international music festival, a role that continues to this day. SKO continued to tour, with overseas concerts in 1994, 1997 and 2004. From 2015, the festival has entered a new stage as the “Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival”.

Ozawa has been particularly focused on education. The Chamber Music Academy Okushiga had evolved from the Saito Kinen chamber music study group sessions that started in 1997, and in 2011, this became the non-profit organization Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy Okushiga, Asia, to provide opportunities to outstanding students from countries in the region. Ozawa also founded the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project in 2000 and the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra Project in 2009, working actively to cultivate young musicians through performance. In 2005, he established the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland to educate European music students. Ozawa has also worked closely with the Mito Chamber Orchestra since its founding in 1990, serving as general director of the orchestra as well as director general of Art Tower Mito from 2013. He has also worked regularly with the New Japan Philharmonic since its founding.

Ozawa has won many awards in Japan and abroad, including: the Asahi Prize (1985); an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University (2000); the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class (2002); the Mainichi Art Award (2003); the Suntory Music Prize (2003); an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France (2004); Honorary Membership from the Wiener Staatsoper (2007); France’s Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (2008); Foreign Associated Member in the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France (2008); the Order of Culture, which is the highest honor in Japan (2008); Giglio D’Oro by Premio Galileo 2000 Foundation of Italy (2008); the first Japanese national to be bestowed honorary membership to the Vienna Philharmonic (2010); the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association (2011); the Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award (2011); and the Kennedy Center Honors (2015). In February 2016, the Ravel L’enfant et les sortilèges album conducted by Seiji Ozawa and performed by the Saito Kinen Orchestra that was recorded at the 2013 Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto won the 58th Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. In April 2016, he was named an Honorary Member of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Booklet for Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major