Nur zwei Mal hat der japanische Dirigent Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024) das Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munchner Konzerten geleitet - doch beide Male wurde nichts weniger als Musikgeschichte geschrieben! I'm Juli 1983 dirigierte Ozawa i'm Herkulessaal der Munchner Residenz Strawinskys Le sacre du printemps und Beethovens Egmont-Ouverture sowie dessen Erstes Klavierkonzert mit Martha Argerich als Solistin, das als CD bereits erschienen ist (CD 900701). Und i'm Januar 1990 prasentierte er sich in der Philharmonie i'm Gasteig mit dem hier erstmals auf CD vorgelegten Programm - mit beispiellos beeindruckenden Interpretationen von Beethovens Funfter Symphonie und Strauss' Tondichtung Ein Heldenleben. In Beethovens funfter Symphonie bestaunte bereits der erste Rezensent E. T. A. Hoffmann das in jener Musik zum Ausdruck gebrachte dramatische Ringen des Menschen durch Nacht zum Licht', das auf rein musikalische Weise gestaltet ist, in struktureller Dichte und auerster Stringenz. Erst in der zweiten Halfte des 19. Jahrhunderts wurde das Werk dann zur Schicksalssymphonie', i'm Sinne jenes heroischen Bildes des Menschen und Kunstlers Ludwig van Beethoven, das sich mittlerweile eingeburgert hatte. Demnach sollte die Symphonie das Leiden und uberwinden des titanisch mit dem Schicksal ringenden Beethoven, insbesondere mit dem personlichen Schicksal seiner Ertaubung behandeln. Eine romantische Anschauung vom Kunstler als leidendem Auenseiter wurde nachtraglich dem Leben und Werk Beethovens aufgepfropft, vor allem seiner funften Symphonie. Um das Leben eines Helden geht es auch in Richard Strauss' Tondichtung, die entstand, als er das Amt des Berliner Hofkapellmeisters antrat. Auch mit diesem Werk wollte er (wie etliche seiner Zeitgenossen) an Beethoven oder die von jenem geschaffene musikalische Ausdruckskraft anknupfen - mit den Mitteln seiner Zeit. Die Tondichtung Ein. Heldenleben, die ihre Urauffuhrung am 3. Marz 1899 in Frankfurt am Main erlebte, liee sich einem Brief Strauss' zufolge als moderne Variante der Eroica deuten, die auch formal auf die klassische Sonatenhauptsatzform zuruckgreift. In der Partitur fehlen die programmatischen Erlauterungen; die uberschriften der sechs Abschnitte wurden erst unmittelbar vor der Urauffuhrung formuliert - vermutlich nicht einmal von Strauss. Trotzdem machte man dem Komponisten, den man als Personalunion seines Helden' sah, den Vorwurf tonender Selbstdarstellung.

It was more than just breathing together in the music that made this relationship so extraordinary: Seiji Ozawa earned the respect and affection of the orchestra from the very first time he met the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1966. The young Japanese conductor knew exactly what he wanted on the podium and knew the scores down to the smallest detail. Nevertheless, the always polite and approachable conductor never imposed his views on the orchestra. The result was a partnership on an equal footing, which was not only rewarding on a personal level, but above all enabled music-making in which there was always room for freedom and spontaneity. Our edition is a tribute to this special friendship with Seiji Ozawa, who the Berliner Philharmoniker made an honorary member in 2016.

Anton Bruckner is a composer with an unmistakable musical language: darkly glowing, overwhelmingly beautiful, but also energetic and innovative. For the Berliner Philharmoniker, this music has been part of their artistic identity for over a hundred years. The orchestra now presents Bruckner’s symphonies in an exclusive edition, recorded over the last ten years together with some of the foremost Bruckner interpreters of our time. Bruckner’s symphonies are a universe of immeasurable tonal, expressive, and metaphysical dimensions. It is precisely the changing perspectives of different conductors that make it possible to explore this diverse wealth. The edition is moreover a document of a successful artistic collaboration with highly esteemed partners of many years’ standing: Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Järvi, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Christian Thielemann and Simon Rattle. The high-quality hardcover edition presents the recordings on nine albums as well as pure audio and video recordings. The extensive booklet contains an essay by the renowned musicologist Richard Taruskin plus portraits of the conductors, introductions to the individual symphonies and numerous photos.

REVIEW:

This may be a premium-priced product but the set undoubtedly offers premium quality, which justifies the price tag, with terrific audio and video as well as excellent documentation. Even more importantly, you get all nine symphonies played by a peerless orchestra. Furthermore, as I hope my comments on the individual performances have shown, there are some considerable interpretations in this set – and not one that is less than very good. I think it’s a decided asset that we see and hear at work not just one conductor but several, all of them excellent Bruckner interpreters.

So, though it’s an expensive proposition, this is a set that will grace any Bruckner collection. With it the Berlin Philharmonic has set out to celebrate their proud Bruckner tradition and they’ve certainly achieved that.

— MusicWeb International

Ozawa's Carmina Burana confirms Orff’s own view of the music: 'The simpler and more significant the utterance, the more direct and striking is the effect.' The performance is thoroughly idiomatic, while the preference for slower tempi in many sections emphasises the detail and colour of the scoring, features which are aided by a recording which has transferred well from its analogue original. With full documentation, including texts and translations, this disc is a real bargain.

Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Terry Barfoot, BBC Music Magazine

The young person's guide to the orchestra (though not presented as such) and anyone's guide to orchestration coupled together: and if you like the idea, I can scarcely imagine it being better done. You may think Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky too sophisticated—but you can hardly deny its invention and skill.

Both works are played with very great virtuosity, to the extent that you are likely to get much pleasure from hearing a superb orchestra showing off, and also, in the appropriate places, playing with much sensitivity. In the Mussorgsky, "The Old Castle" is most beautifully played; "Tuileries" is only an allegretto non troppo, no more, and is all the more attractive for it, while "Bydlo" isn't drearily slow. But there is brilliance in plenty: in the terrific vitality of "Gnomus", in the lightness of the "Dance of the Chickens in their Shells", in the characterisation of "Goldenberg and Schmuyle", and in the market at Limoges. The brass in "Catacombs" is exceptionally well judged and Ozawa makes a link into the next piece that is not marked but is very effective.

The piece is not, as usual, complete on one side but that doesn't matter with a concoction of this kind. My test copy did a bad groove jump in the loudest part of "The Great Gate of Kiev" but that will no doubt not be a general flaw. This was the stereo—the mono played perfectly well: all the same, these pieces, both Mussorgsky and Britten gain very greatly from the spaciousness of stereo. The Britten is almost equally well done —certainly the playing is of the greatest virtuosity. I would have liked the theme 'cleaner' and more Purcellian, for even though it is fully orchestrated by Britten, I feel sure he wants the character of its composer kept: and in the final fugue, when the brass bring back Purcell's theme, very grandly, Britten's fugue theme gets swamped in both stereo and mono, which misses the whole point of the writing.

But in general the recording is very good indeed and I have the greatest admiration for the Chicago orchestra's playing under Ozawa.

T.H., Gramophone [9/1968] Reviewing Original LP