An orchestra is a lot like a perfect society: the instruments all have different roles and personalities, and when they come together beautiful music is created. Every society needs a leader, though, and last week the Boston Symphony Orchestra introduced its new leader to audiences in Japan.
Music director Andris Nelsons first took up his new position at the BSO for the 2014/15 season. And it's an orchestra that holds a particularly special place in Japan's heart, as it is where conductor Seiji Ozawa served as music director from 1973 until 2002. During Ozawa's 29-year tenure, the longest throughout the orchestra's 136-year history, the BSO made five major tours to Japan.
"Of course, maestro Ozawa was one of the most important music directors at the BSO," Nelsons, 38, tells The Japan Times. In addition to paying homage to his predecessors and keeping the existing tradition that has resulted in the intensity of the BSO sound, the Latvian conductor expresses his intention to enhance more spontaneity and individualism: "I want to encourage the musicians to express their own hearts into the music."