Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa will lead the Berlin Philharmonic for two concerts in the German capital next January, the orchestra said Wednesday.
Ozawa, 81, last conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in April of last year, marking his first performance there in about seven years. The upcoming concerts will be held on Jan. 19 and 21, in which works such as Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 will be performed.
Ozawa was music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a leading American orchestra, for 29 years until 2002. He also served as vice conductor at the New York Philharmonic in 1961.
He has been suffering from health problems especially since undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer in January 2010, which sometimes forces him to cancel or shorten stage performances.