The legendary conductor passed away a few days ago, after having struggled with health issues for more than a decade. Known perhaps most for his stint with the Boston Symphony. He was a long-time friend of John Williams, who (thankfully) managed to see him one last time when Williams had his concerts in Japan last year.
One of my favorite interpreters of Mahler and the Romantics and post-Romantics. A great loss, though his health has been declining in recent years so the news is unwelcome but not unexpected.
I wasn't aware of his state of health nor his age though as my earliest recording of his (where he assists Leonard Bernstein) is from 1962 I could have been. I bought a box set of recordings by the Boston Symphony Orchestra 4+ years ago which includes many under his helm.
I think the first CD of his I bought (20yrs ago) was his 1988 recording of Carmina Burana with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Shin-Yu Kai Chor.
One favourite I have is his handling of the Berliner Philharmoniker's Waldbühne 2003 concert which was titled A Gershwin Night ... a superb BluRay.
As as my custom, I will either play or purchased music of the deceased. I purchased his version of him conducting Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. If I had seen this thread sooner, I might’ve purchased something else. But I’ll add these to list of future purchases
I am currently listening to a lot of different versions of Olivier Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony. I have about half a dozen recordings already in my collection and listen to more via streaming. In 1968, it was Seiji Ozawa who made a famous recording that put the piece on the map. I haven't listen to that recording yet but it's next.
Edit: I have now listened to Ozawa's recording of the Turangalila Symphony, it is excellent. Exciting performance. Still among the top picks after all these decades.
Yes, that Romeo & Juliet is great. Another dynamite recording is the Liszt Piano Concertos and Totentanz with Krystian Zimerman. That's one for the ages. I think that would be my personal pick for the "if I could have only one Ozawa album" series.
