Review: The Last Big Ozawa Box (for Now)--This Time on Sony

This 51-CD special edition from Sony contains Seiji Ozawa's complete Sony and RCA recordings, featuring a substantial sampling from the entire range of the conductor's career. Some of these recordings, such as his Chicago Symphony series for RCA, are very well-known while others, including his first major recordings made in Toronto and his later projects in Japan (only released locally) will be new to most listeners.

[chihamats]

I'm Japanese living in Japan but had ZERO idea this was out... Gonna have to check it out for myself!

[Mooseman]

Ozawa might be the MOST consistent conductor ever. Always listenable and top-notch. Seemed to always worked with care.

[chengyang]

Just pull the trigger and ordered from Japan hmv... Thanks for the review.

[Otorres]

I've been listening to Ozawa on disc after he passed. I took him for granted for sure. Dave, I think you should review the legacy of Andrew Davis who also passed away very recently. As a Chicagoan, I was familiar with him by way of the Lyric Opera, but now I'm curious about all of it.

[robhaynes]

Thanks so much for fulfilling the request! I'm going through this box disc by disc & have found it extremely enjoyable. So much of it wasn't on my radar when I was learning classical music. Hopefully Decca will release a box of his complete Philips/Decca recordings. 🤞

[deVriesOP]

On the Mozart horn concertos; my horn teacher(!) always said that there is only one Mozart horn concerto: the 4th! 😂

[stephenmarmer]

Hi Dave. A few thoughts about Ozawa and conductor legacy. How different things are from the times of Ormandy with Philadelphia, Reiner with Chicago, Szell with Cleveland, HvK with Berlin, when a distinctive sound and approach could be honed. Ozawa was with Boston for a good run but was there a distinctive sound? Also, I agree that both Mehta and Ozawa are insufficiently appreciated.
Anyway, thanks as always for your insights and wide ranging commentary.

[eisenaechery]

Heya Dave, thanks for these thots on Ozawa! I have a question, maybe for a music chat: Do you still attend live concerts? If not, why not? Like, if a great orchestra comes to Carnegie Hall, do you go? You talk a lot about certain periods of orchestras (the time of the great Chicago brass under Solti for example), do you track how today's orchestras are evolving in live performances?

[tom]

In describing the Ozawa/Browning Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto disc you mention that it's included in the Browning box. I don't remember you talking about that RCA collection (and am not seeing it on your Playlist) but I know I'd really love to hear your assessment of those recordings and of his career in general. Any chance you could do a video in which you go through that box set? Thanks, Dave.

[josephemmanuel]

The André Watts-Ozawa Rach 3 is actually my personal favorite.

[judsonmusick]

LOL Dave - I thought DOGS played fetch, not cats!

[albertpianist]

If my memory serves me, Ozawa/BSO also had a brief stint with Telarc. Reviews that I could look up (Beethoven and Vivaldi only) are mixed. I assume it's safe to give a pass on those recordings?

[chihamats]

Have you reviewed the complete DG Ozawa box before?

[dondrewecki]

Dave: What magnifying glass do you use? I need one myself!

[robertbangkok]

What I fail to understand is why SONY would hurt it's own bottom line. They refuse to release many recordings in the US. The only ones making money on these recordings are the Japanese dealers, who charge extremely inflated prices to anyone living in the US. I recently paid $45 for a recording that sells for $8 in Japan. I'm really tired of this crap.

Also, SONY was the co-inventor of multi-channel discs (SACDs) and all of these recordings they are releasing were recorded originally in multi-channel, but they release them only in Stereo. What sense does this make? People will gladly pay more for an SACD, but they don't release them as such. Ten years ago, I remember paying $90 for the Bernstein Mahler 3 to complete my collection. Ridiculous!