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A review by cjeanne99
Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa by Haruki Murakami
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Delightful. Murakami is a student of music - he intimately knows a wide variety of pieces; symphonies, piano concertos, jazz. He and Ozawa discuss music history and Ozawa’s career - dissecting many performances. Particularly enjoyed their discussion of the influence of Mahler - and the conductor’s role in rehearsing an orchestra to take on Mahler - and Ozawa’s eastern ways of interpreting western music.
I laughed out loud when reading their conversation about Ozawa’s time as director of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. He would travel to the blues clubs on his nights off to soak up some truly American music. Ozawa says “Do they still play the blues in Chicago?” Well - even though the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 - yes - we do still play the blues!
Even though the writing style is conversational - I found the book to be entertaining and enlightening. Ozawa’s description of how he prepares for a performance - the depths he goes to study a score and determine various interpretations. And his discussion of the different styles of different orchestras was fascinating. Well done.
I laughed out loud when reading their conversation about Ozawa’s time as director of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. He would travel to the blues clubs on his nights off to soak up some truly American music. Ozawa says “Do they still play the blues in Chicago?” Well - even though the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 - yes - we do still play the blues!
Even though the writing style is conversational - I found the book to be entertaining and enlightening. Ozawa’s description of how he prepares for a performance - the depths he goes to study a score and determine various interpretations. And his discussion of the different styles of different orchestras was fascinating. Well done.