Institute History
Description
A portrait of Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A beguiling, thoughtful, self-effacing man, Seiji Ozawa speaks with great passion and precision about being caught between Eastern and Western cultures. Ozawa, one of the world’s leading conductors, take considerable time to teach youthful aspirants. With unerring judgement, he knows which ones heed encouragement, which ones have suffered from too much pressure. “I will have a drink with him tonight. That’s part of a teacher’s job,” he tell the filmmaker.
Ozawa seems a man totally at ease with himself. Perhaps it is the hard-won victory born of a life he acknowledges has been difficult )”I suffered so much to become a conductor”). In a rare moment of discomfort with the camera’s presence—he is engaged in a heartfelt discussion with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma about the ability of Orientals to play Western music—he asks the camera to stop. In all, a touching look at a figure of enormous creativity and compassion.