Voting Station

Seiji Ozawa

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Conductor

The Resume

    (September 1, 1935-February 6, 2024)
    Born in Shenyang, China
    Music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1965-69), the San Francisco Symphony (1970-77), the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1973-2002), and the Vienna State Opera (2002-10)
    Over 275 recordings

Why he might be annoying:

    He started as a pianist until he injured his fingers playing rugby.
    He was known for conducting while wearing a white turtleneck instead of the traditional starched shirt, vest, and white tie.
    His reorganization of the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Center prompted several veteran faculty members to quit (1996).
    Composer and author Jan Swafford wrote about the BSO under his direction, ‘[M]ost of the time what came out was glittering surfaces with nothing substantial beneath.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the only conductor to study under both Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.
    He was musical director of the BSO longer than any other conductor.
    He conducted Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics at Nagano (1998).
    He received the French Legion of Honor (1998) and Japanese Order of Culture (2008).
    He has been married to Miki Irie for over fifty years.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 62 Votes: 35.48% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 76 Votes: 42.11% Annoying