Seiji Ozawa made his debut on Philips Records with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the 1970’s, and he has conducted it many times over the intervening 45 years, including in a massed performance for the opening of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics which involved international choirs participating by video-link!
This live recording is taken from a concert marking the Mito Chamber Orchestra’s 100th performance, using just 48 players and 32 chorus-members.
The Mito Chamber Orchestra features many well-known players including Radek Baborák (horn), Ricardo Morales (clarinet) and Philippe Tondre (oboe). The German baritone Markus Eiche leads a quartet of leading Japanese soloists and the Tokyo Opera Singers in a fascinating performance on a chamber orchestra scale.
Here is Seiji Ozawa leading. Performance of the Beethoven Ninth:
