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Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa
A deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and his close friend, the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Haruki Murakami's passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and from The Beatles' Norwegian Wood to Franz Liszt's Years of Pilgrimage, the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. Now, in Absolutely on Music, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk, over a period of two years, about their shared interest. Transcribed from lengthy conversations about the nature of music and writing, here they discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more. Ultimately this book gives readers an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the two maestros. It is essential reading for book and music lovers everywhere.
Haruki Murakami's passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and from The Beatles' Norwegian Wood to Franz Liszt's Years of Pilgrimage, the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. Now, in Absolutely on Music, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk, over a period of two years, about their shared interest. Transcribed from lengthy conversations about the nature of music and writing, here they discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more. Ultimately this book gives readers an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the two maestros. It is essential reading for book and music lovers everywhere.
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2011
About the author
Haruki Murakami
538 books119k followersMurakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上 春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka...
Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences.
Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse 'Peter Cat' which was a jazz bar in the evening in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife.
Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood (after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).
Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences.
Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse 'Peter Cat' which was a jazz bar in the evening in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife.
Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood (after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).
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January 8, 2018
Murakami loves music, any reader of his could tell you as much. Norwegian Wood was named after a Beatles song (albeit one not very well known) and After Dark is framed by a music soundtrack in a brilliant display of atmospheric setting. With this all that love is here. And like all who have a good taste in music, Murakami's is eclectic and very well considered. I found myself looking up musicians after reading this because I found many of his opinions quite convincing.
He shares them with the renowned Seiji Ozawa, former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Murakami admits to a sense of kinship he found in Ozawa; they both produce art, and they go about it in very different ways, though they are both pushed forward with the same sense of drive: an absolute love of their work. It's what they live for; it's who they are. That being said though, it is by no means a one way conversation. In matters of music Ozawa is the master and Murakami a mere amateur; however, they still both respect and admire each other's opinions. They question each other to learn more as their friendship grows.
They discuss music ranging from Beethoven to all manner of operas, and due to the nature of Ozawa's music the discussions mainly rest on classical music rather than anything more up-beat. I think the more you know about music the more enjoyable you will find this book. I know very little about the formal qualities of music, though I feel like I learnt a little bit whilst reading this. For someone who knows all the nuances the two discuss, the book will certainly be more enjoyable for them when compared to someone with a pedestrian level of knowledge.
What I found most interesting was the comments Murakami made about music and writing; he said that "I am writing as if I'm making music" and goes on to explain what he meant, at least, as best he can to Ozawa. He attributes it to Jazz and the rhythm it produces, arguing that prose has to have rhythm for it to be decent writing; it needs to be moving ever forward, carrying momentum into the next sentence, in order for it to be effective. Ozawa does not fully understand the concept. I don't fully understand it either, but that's unimportant because Murakami does and his success speaks for itself. Such is the nature of art.
Ozawa, for his part, appreciated Murakami's enthusiasm despite his lack of technical knowledge and provides a very characteristic afterward reflecting on the nature of the project. For the right reader, this will be immensely entertaining. The two men share a passion for music and it runs through the entirety of their conversations, though you will also need to possess the same passion to appreciate the nature of the book. As such I only recommend it to those who can keep up with the nature of the content as it may wash over others.
He shares them with the renowned Seiji Ozawa, former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Murakami admits to a sense of kinship he found in Ozawa; they both produce art, and they go about it in very different ways, though they are both pushed forward with the same sense of drive: an absolute love of their work. It's what they live for; it's who they are. That being said though, it is by no means a one way conversation. In matters of music Ozawa is the master and Murakami a mere amateur; however, they still both respect and admire each other's opinions. They question each other to learn more as their friendship grows.
They discuss music ranging from Beethoven to all manner of operas, and due to the nature of Ozawa's music the discussions mainly rest on classical music rather than anything more up-beat. I think the more you know about music the more enjoyable you will find this book. I know very little about the formal qualities of music, though I feel like I learnt a little bit whilst reading this. For someone who knows all the nuances the two discuss, the book will certainly be more enjoyable for them when compared to someone with a pedestrian level of knowledge.
What I found most interesting was the comments Murakami made about music and writing; he said that "I am writing as if I'm making music" and goes on to explain what he meant, at least, as best he can to Ozawa. He attributes it to Jazz and the rhythm it produces, arguing that prose has to have rhythm for it to be decent writing; it needs to be moving ever forward, carrying momentum into the next sentence, in order for it to be effective. Ozawa does not fully understand the concept. I don't fully understand it either, but that's unimportant because Murakami does and his success speaks for itself. Such is the nature of art.
Ozawa, for his part, appreciated Murakami's enthusiasm despite his lack of technical knowledge and provides a very characteristic afterward reflecting on the nature of the project. For the right reader, this will be immensely entertaining. The two men share a passion for music and it runs through the entirety of their conversations, though you will also need to possess the same passion to appreciate the nature of the book. As such I only recommend it to those who can keep up with the nature of the content as it may wash over others.
Read
January 12, 2021One of the most remarkable evenings of my life was the time I hosted an assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra a couple of years ago. I cooked, wine flowed, and we talked late into the night. I recall it started with his explanation of The Enigma Variations over farro and grilled vegetables and segued into a discussion of what symphonies he most wanted to conduct (with halibut and mango sauce as accompaniment). He went through my music collection (Oh, let’s start with the vinyl.) telling stories or giving impressions of the artists.
Eventually we stood before the painting The Conductor by Nguyen Thanh Binh, a Vietnamese painter.
We stood there, drinks in hand, and I said that to me the piece was not just about a “conductor” but was really about the creation, the moment of creation, of a piece of art. There is as yet this unformed idea. It appears at first glance that the artist is staring into the void. But, oh, there is something out there, like the wind, which is about to explode. It could be a conductor about to summon the first note; or maybe, I said, it could be a trial attorney about to begin his closing argument. My guest stared at the man in black, at the minimalist swaying, and eventually he said, “This is it. You have to understand, they are all first-class musicians, each brilliant; but they are not your friends.”
The idea of this book intrigued me: conversations between Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa about music. They, too, ate, drank and talked. Their discussions were, mostly, more structured than the one I described above. Murakami would take a piece of music, say Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, and play it for Ozawa. But he would play different recordings of the piece from his collection: Gould and Karajan, Gould and Bernstein, Serkin and Bernstein, Serkin and Ozawa, Uchida and Sanderling. As the piece played in its various incarnations, Ozawa and Murakami would discuss difference in style and interpretation. That is more musical nuance than I need or, for that matter, am capable of. But the structure allowed for some wonderful insights and phrasings. And tidbits.
“Music, of course, is an art that occurs through time,” Ozawa said, in discussing his difficulty in taking an Alban Berg score from reading to understanding. And, quoting Schoenberg (music is not a sound but an idea), Ozawa told Murakami that reading a score of music is an artistic experience. It amazed me that Ozawa never heard Mahler performed until he had started reading scores of Mahler’s symphonies. He knew immediately he had entered a different world.
One of the Conversations occurred after Ozawa invited Murakami to attend the Seiji Ozawa International Academy in Switzerland. Very highly skilled string players (in their twenties, mostly) play string quartets under the tutelage of Ozawa and a few others. I can’t begin to describe how jealous I am that Murakami was permitted to observe.
Perhaps my favorite Conversation was the one Murakami and Ozawa had about blues and jazz. When he was in Chicago, Ozawa would sneak out at night and visit blues bars. He became such a regular they used to let him sneak in through a side entrance. These are conversations, remember. So, at one point, Ozawa kind of stops their chat and says, “By the way, do they still play the blues in Chicago?” This floored me, and made me do a double- and triple-take, because that line - Do they still play the blues in Chicago? - is the start of the chorus in the great Steve Goodman song, A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTRx...
And, they’re both fans of Junko Onishi. So, as a public service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrOmu...
One last thing. I don’t know how they did it, but the transcribed dialogue between Murakami and Ozawa sounded just like two characters talking in a Murakami novel. Maybe it’s because of Murakami’s long-time translator, Jay Rubin. But perhaps it’s explained by this observation by Murakami:
No one ever taught me how to write, and I’ve never made a study of writing techniques. So how did I learn to write? From listening to music. And what’s the most important thing in writing? It’s rhythm. No one’s going to read what you write unless it’s got rhythm.
Eventually we stood before the painting The Conductor by Nguyen Thanh Binh, a Vietnamese painter.
We stood there, drinks in hand, and I said that to me the piece was not just about a “conductor” but was really about the creation, the moment of creation, of a piece of art. There is as yet this unformed idea. It appears at first glance that the artist is staring into the void. But, oh, there is something out there, like the wind, which is about to explode. It could be a conductor about to summon the first note; or maybe, I said, it could be a trial attorney about to begin his closing argument. My guest stared at the man in black, at the minimalist swaying, and eventually he said, “This is it. You have to understand, they are all first-class musicians, each brilliant; but they are not your friends.”
The idea of this book intrigued me: conversations between Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa about music. They, too, ate, drank and talked. Their discussions were, mostly, more structured than the one I described above. Murakami would take a piece of music, say Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, and play it for Ozawa. But he would play different recordings of the piece from his collection: Gould and Karajan, Gould and Bernstein, Serkin and Bernstein, Serkin and Ozawa, Uchida and Sanderling. As the piece played in its various incarnations, Ozawa and Murakami would discuss difference in style and interpretation. That is more musical nuance than I need or, for that matter, am capable of. But the structure allowed for some wonderful insights and phrasings. And tidbits.
“Music, of course, is an art that occurs through time,” Ozawa said, in discussing his difficulty in taking an Alban Berg score from reading to understanding. And, quoting Schoenberg (music is not a sound but an idea), Ozawa told Murakami that reading a score of music is an artistic experience. It amazed me that Ozawa never heard Mahler performed until he had started reading scores of Mahler’s symphonies. He knew immediately he had entered a different world.
One of the Conversations occurred after Ozawa invited Murakami to attend the Seiji Ozawa International Academy in Switzerland. Very highly skilled string players (in their twenties, mostly) play string quartets under the tutelage of Ozawa and a few others. I can’t begin to describe how jealous I am that Murakami was permitted to observe.
Perhaps my favorite Conversation was the one Murakami and Ozawa had about blues and jazz. When he was in Chicago, Ozawa would sneak out at night and visit blues bars. He became such a regular they used to let him sneak in through a side entrance. These are conversations, remember. So, at one point, Ozawa kind of stops their chat and says, “By the way, do they still play the blues in Chicago?” This floored me, and made me do a double- and triple-take, because that line - Do they still play the blues in Chicago? - is the start of the chorus in the great Steve Goodman song, A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTRx...
And, they’re both fans of Junko Onishi. So, as a public service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrOmu...
One last thing. I don’t know how they did it, but the transcribed dialogue between Murakami and Ozawa sounded just like two characters talking in a Murakami novel. Maybe it’s because of Murakami’s long-time translator, Jay Rubin. But perhaps it’s explained by this observation by Murakami:
No one ever taught me how to write, and I’ve never made a study of writing techniques. So how did I learn to write? From listening to music. And what’s the most important thing in writing? It’s rhythm. No one’s going to read what you write unless it’s got rhythm.
August 15, 2016
I've said it before and I'll say it again: If I could only read the work of one author for the rest of my life, I'd choose Haruki Murakami. In this new non-fiction work, Murakami sits down with Seiji Ozawa, legendary conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Music has long been a pivotal component of Murakami's novels, which is no surprise, as he ran a jazz club before becoming an internationally bestselling author.
Absolutely on Music is like sitting in on an intimate conversation between friends, and it is a privilege to be able to eavesdrop on these two legends.
Absolutely on Music is like sitting in on an intimate conversation between friends, and it is a privilege to be able to eavesdrop on these two legends.
July 10, 2017
Since I read all things Murakami, I had to read this. It turned out to be wonderful. I guess the more you know about music, the better it would be. I know a little and learned a lot more.
But it's also about what it means to be an artist. It's a lot about the process of creating art. Seiji Ozawa comes across as being gentle, warm, and generous, with his time his energy and his talent. He teaches as well as conducts, although he has been slowed up in recent years by illness.
Murakami, despite his disclaimers, seems to know a lot about music. He is a well- (if self-) educated amateur who knows how to listen carefully and critically but with great appreciation and love for music. He understands the soul of it. His questions elicited fascinating responses from Ozawa and his own comments were enlightening as well.
The dialogue between the two men was intelligent but also warm, with touches of humor and a great common love for music.
I loved this book. I think it is a valuable book for anyone who cares about music or, more generally, the process of creating art.
But it's also about what it means to be an artist. It's a lot about the process of creating art. Seiji Ozawa comes across as being gentle, warm, and generous, with his time his energy and his talent. He teaches as well as conducts, although he has been slowed up in recent years by illness.
Murakami, despite his disclaimers, seems to know a lot about music. He is a well- (if self-) educated amateur who knows how to listen carefully and critically but with great appreciation and love for music. He understands the soul of it. His questions elicited fascinating responses from Ozawa and his own comments were enlightening as well.
The dialogue between the two men was intelligent but also warm, with touches of humor and a great common love for music.
I loved this book. I think it is a valuable book for anyone who cares about music or, more generally, the process of creating art.
January 7, 2017
In 2010 star conductor Seiji Ozawa, then in his mid-70s, had to settle down for a while to convalesce from a series of serious health problems. Haruki Murakami, his celebrated countryman and a genuine classical music buff, filled in the gap with a series of long conversations on all things musical. Murakami is an avid record collector but doesn't know how to read music. So he is essentially a dilettante who had the privilege to quiz a supremely experienced professional musician. The results are not always equally satisfying. In their first conversation, Murakami puts Ozawa in a chair and subjects him to a review of different performances of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto (including one of his own recordings). Ozawa doesn't seem to be really interested, and the exchange is rather wooden. He even admits not liking "those manic record collectors - people with lots of money, superb music reproduction equipment, and tons of records (...) You go in, and they've got everything ever recorded by Furtwängler, say, but the people themselves are so busy they can't spend any time at home listening to music." It's a curiously judgmental statement, particularly by a Japanese, which I take to be an expression of Ozawa's annoyance with Murakami's opening conversational gambit.
Slowly Murakami gets on track. The second conversation zooms in on Ozawa's relationship with the Saito Kinen orchestra he helped to establish. This is a group of elite players that comes together for a month each year to study and perform carefully selected, string-oriented repertoire under Ozawa's guidance. The sixth and final exchange is set against the background of another one of the conductor's pet projects, the summertime Ozawa Acedemy for young string players on the shores of Lake Geneva. In between they talk about Ozawa's experiences in the 1960s as assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein, his love for opera (Ozawa led the Wiener Staatsoper for eight years) and his relationship to the music of Mahler.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the book. Ozawa is a superbly intuitive artist but not a great thinker about music. At one point he admits: "You know, talking about these things with you like this, it's gradually begun to dawn on me that I'm not the kind of person who thinks about things in this way. When I study a piece of music, I concentrate fairly deeply on the score. And the more I concentrate, probably, the less I think about other things. I just think about the music itself. I guess I could say that I depend entirely on what comes between me and the music." Later on in the book, this is reinforced when he says: "Yes, in both my conducting and my teaching. I don't approach either with preconceived ideas. (...) I don't have anything to say until I've got a musician right in front of me." So Ozawa is at his best when he reminisces about his contacts with fellow conductors (Karajan amongst them), soloists and opera singers. But he is uncommunicative when the conversation veers away from the personal and experiential.
I sympathised with Murakami in the sense that, as a classical music aficionado, I'm coming from a very similar place. Like him, I've built up a vast record collection and amassed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the field. But also I am not able to play an instrument or read music. So there is this curious and frustrating feeling of being shut out of this world we love so much. On the whole, Murakami does a commendable job as an amateur music lover and interviewer. Nevertheless, I found myself frustrated in many cases by his coquettish but unnecessary display of expertise or his failure to follow up on interesting leads. For instance, one motto theme throughout the book is Ozawa's deep love for the orchestra's string section. He picked this up from his early mentor Professor Saito who promoted an idea of 'talkative strings'. However, the deeper grounds for this fascination with strings remain in the dark. Murakami never digs deeper into the issue.
I wonder who the target audience is for this book. Readers who are not familiar with classical music will be put off by the endless parade of composers' and performers' names. I personally, as an experienced listener, didn't pick up a lot of new things from this book. Certainly, Ozawa shares some amusing anecdotes. And one gets a (still very fragmented) perspective on his long career. Also scattered through the book are the elements of a blurry, somewhat coherent picture of how Ozawa understands his craft as a conductor. But again, Murakami does not pull together these strands in the narrative. Probably the most interesting experience related to this book is that it prompted me to reflect on what questions I would like to ask when faced with the opportunity to sit down with a person like Seiji Ozawa. It's not an easy question to answer. My former interactions with scholars, musicians and composers have led to mutual bewilderment as we seem to be interested in very different things. The Georgian composer Giya Kancheli once laughed out loud and reproached me for taking music too seriously. "Don't think about it," he said, "You just have to let it wash over you."
Slowly Murakami gets on track. The second conversation zooms in on Ozawa's relationship with the Saito Kinen orchestra he helped to establish. This is a group of elite players that comes together for a month each year to study and perform carefully selected, string-oriented repertoire under Ozawa's guidance. The sixth and final exchange is set against the background of another one of the conductor's pet projects, the summertime Ozawa Acedemy for young string players on the shores of Lake Geneva. In between they talk about Ozawa's experiences in the 1960s as assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein, his love for opera (Ozawa led the Wiener Staatsoper for eight years) and his relationship to the music of Mahler.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the book. Ozawa is a superbly intuitive artist but not a great thinker about music. At one point he admits: "You know, talking about these things with you like this, it's gradually begun to dawn on me that I'm not the kind of person who thinks about things in this way. When I study a piece of music, I concentrate fairly deeply on the score. And the more I concentrate, probably, the less I think about other things. I just think about the music itself. I guess I could say that I depend entirely on what comes between me and the music." Later on in the book, this is reinforced when he says: "Yes, in both my conducting and my teaching. I don't approach either with preconceived ideas. (...) I don't have anything to say until I've got a musician right in front of me." So Ozawa is at his best when he reminisces about his contacts with fellow conductors (Karajan amongst them), soloists and opera singers. But he is uncommunicative when the conversation veers away from the personal and experiential.
I sympathised with Murakami in the sense that, as a classical music aficionado, I'm coming from a very similar place. Like him, I've built up a vast record collection and amassed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the field. But also I am not able to play an instrument or read music. So there is this curious and frustrating feeling of being shut out of this world we love so much. On the whole, Murakami does a commendable job as an amateur music lover and interviewer. Nevertheless, I found myself frustrated in many cases by his coquettish but unnecessary display of expertise or his failure to follow up on interesting leads. For instance, one motto theme throughout the book is Ozawa's deep love for the orchestra's string section. He picked this up from his early mentor Professor Saito who promoted an idea of 'talkative strings'. However, the deeper grounds for this fascination with strings remain in the dark. Murakami never digs deeper into the issue.
I wonder who the target audience is for this book. Readers who are not familiar with classical music will be put off by the endless parade of composers' and performers' names. I personally, as an experienced listener, didn't pick up a lot of new things from this book. Certainly, Ozawa shares some amusing anecdotes. And one gets a (still very fragmented) perspective on his long career. Also scattered through the book are the elements of a blurry, somewhat coherent picture of how Ozawa understands his craft as a conductor. But again, Murakami does not pull together these strands in the narrative. Probably the most interesting experience related to this book is that it prompted me to reflect on what questions I would like to ask when faced with the opportunity to sit down with a person like Seiji Ozawa. It's not an easy question to answer. My former interactions with scholars, musicians and composers have led to mutual bewilderment as we seem to be interested in very different things. The Georgian composer Giya Kancheli once laughed out loud and reproached me for taking music too seriously. "Don't think about it," he said, "You just have to let it wash over you."
June 10, 2017
Mình tình cờ thấy cuốn này trong list "to-read" của một người bạn và ngay lặp tức muốn đọc nó. Còn gì thú vị hơn đối với một người thích đọc tiểu thuyết và nghe nhạc cổ điển như mình khi đọc được những cuộc trò chuyện nghiêm túc của hai người Nhật nổi tiếng nhất ở lĩnh vực của mình cơ chứ :P
Murakami như thường lệ, vẫn luôn biết cách tạo nên bất ngờ cho người đọc. Nhưng lần này đó không phải là những cảnh "quan hệ" nhuốm màu nhục cảm, những cuộc du lịch vào chiều không gian thứ 3 hay một ốc đảo toàn mèo, mà là kiến thức cực kỳ sâu rộng của ông về nhạc cổ điển, có thể nói là không hề thua kém một nhà phê bình âm nhạc nào. Nhiều lúc mình cảm thấy bất ngờ khi ông nói đến những record thuộc dạng hiếm có mà ngay cả Ozawa còn không có hoặc không nhớ là mình đã làm ra nó, hoặc những bình luận sau sắc về âm nhạc có thể làm bất ngờ bất cứ một nhạc sĩ chuyên nghiệp nào.
Nhưng nhân vật chính của cuốn sách này không phải là Murakami mà là Ozawa. Mình quả thật bất ngờ khi biết được rằng ông chính là đệ tử chân truyền của hai nhạc trưởng nổi tiếng nhất thế kỷ 20 là Bernstein và Karajan. Những suy nghĩ, chia sẻ của ông về sự nghiệp của mình, về những nghệ sĩ khác, và đặc biệt là những tác phẩm nhạc cổ điển khác thật sự khai sáng và mở mang cho mình rất nhiều về cách thưởng thức nhạc cổ điển. Mình thật sự thích 2 chương nói về Brahms và Mahler khi nó đã sáng tỏ cho mình nhiều điều mà mình chưa hề biết tới của hai nhạc sĩ vĩ đại này, mặc dù mình nghe nhạc của cả hai người này đã ngót nghét được 5 năm rồi. Và trước giờ mình cũng chưa bao giờ là fan của Seiji Ozawa vì cảm giác rằng phong cách âm nhạc của ông có một chút gì đó hơi bảo thủ và thiếu năng lượng, nhưng khi vừa đọc cuốn sách này và vừa nghe những CD ông record với dàn nhạc Boston và Saito Kinen thì mình mới phát hiện ra rằng trước giờ quả thật trình độ cảm nhạc của mình thật nông cạn :))
Túm lại, đây không phải là một cuốn sách dành cho những fan cứng của Murakami, vì những chia sẻ về việc viết lách của ông chiếm một phần rất nhỏ và không đáng kể trong những cuộc trò chuyện này. Nhưng cuốn sách này sẽ rất hữu ích cho những ai thích nhạc cổ điển hoặc có ý định tìm hiểu nhạc cổ điển. Theo mình nghĩ nếu bạn kết hợp đọc cuốn sách này và nghe những CD nhắc đến trong này (torrent với blogspot có hết à, ah hihi) thì bạn sẽ có một trải nghiệm âm nhạc thật sự tuyệt vời.
Mình mong chờ ngày cuốn sách được dịch sang tiếng Việt, vì với một số lượng fan cuồng bác Murakami ở VN như hiện nay cũng như tình hình làm căng việc thu phí bản quyền gần đây của bác Phương thì mình hy vọng cái ngày khi giới trẻ muốn chém gió dọa nhau về âm nhạc, thì thay vì họ sẽ nói về Mahler và Gould, hơn là Bolero và nhạc của Sếp :P.
Murakami như thường lệ, vẫn luôn biết cách tạo nên bất ngờ cho người đọc. Nhưng lần này đó không phải là những cảnh "quan hệ" nhuốm màu nhục cảm, những cuộc du lịch vào chiều không gian thứ 3 hay một ốc đảo toàn mèo, mà là kiến thức cực kỳ sâu rộng của ông về nhạc cổ điển, có thể nói là không hề thua kém một nhà phê bình âm nhạc nào. Nhiều lúc mình cảm thấy bất ngờ khi ông nói đến những record thuộc dạng hiếm có mà ngay cả Ozawa còn không có hoặc không nhớ là mình đã làm ra nó, hoặc những bình luận sau sắc về âm nhạc có thể làm bất ngờ bất cứ một nhạc sĩ chuyên nghiệp nào.
Nhưng nhân vật chính của cuốn sách này không phải là Murakami mà là Ozawa. Mình quả thật bất ngờ khi biết được rằng ông chính là đệ tử chân truyền của hai nhạc trưởng nổi tiếng nhất thế kỷ 20 là Bernstein và Karajan. Những suy nghĩ, chia sẻ của ông về sự nghiệp của mình, về những nghệ sĩ khác, và đặc biệt là những tác phẩm nhạc cổ điển khác thật sự khai sáng và mở mang cho mình rất nhiều về cách thưởng thức nhạc cổ điển. Mình thật sự thích 2 chương nói về Brahms và Mahler khi nó đã sáng tỏ cho mình nhiều điều mà mình chưa hề biết tới của hai nhạc sĩ vĩ đại này, mặc dù mình nghe nhạc của cả hai người này đã ngót nghét được 5 năm rồi. Và trước giờ mình cũng chưa bao giờ là fan của Seiji Ozawa vì cảm giác rằng phong cách âm nhạc của ông có một chút gì đó hơi bảo thủ và thiếu năng lượng, nhưng khi vừa đọc cuốn sách này và vừa nghe những CD ông record với dàn nhạc Boston và Saito Kinen thì mình mới phát hiện ra rằng trước giờ quả thật trình độ cảm nhạc của mình thật nông cạn :))
Túm lại, đây không phải là một cuốn sách dành cho những fan cứng của Murakami, vì những chia sẻ về việc viết lách của ông chiếm một phần rất nhỏ và không đáng kể trong những cuộc trò chuyện này. Nhưng cuốn sách này sẽ rất hữu ích cho những ai thích nhạc cổ điển hoặc có ý định tìm hiểu nhạc cổ điển. Theo mình nghĩ nếu bạn kết hợp đọc cuốn sách này và nghe những CD nhắc đến trong này (torrent với blogspot có hết à, ah hihi) thì bạn sẽ có một trải nghiệm âm nhạc thật sự tuyệt vời.
Mình mong chờ ngày cuốn sách được dịch sang tiếng Việt, vì với một số lượng fan cuồng bác Murakami ở VN như hiện nay cũng như tình hình làm căng việc thu phí bản quyền gần đây của bác Phương thì mình hy vọng cái ngày khi giới trẻ muốn chém gió dọa nhau về âm nhạc, thì thay vì họ sẽ nói về Mahler và Gould, hơn là Bolero và nhạc của Sếp :P.
September 13, 2021
Mi sento quasi in colpa per non essermi entusiasmato per questa lettura, e mi riprometto di rileggerlo quando mi sarò costruito un bagaglio di musica classica decente.
Ho provato a leggere ascoltando poi i brani di cui Murakami e il Maestro Ozawa stavano parlando, ma se dicessi che sono stato in grado di seguire le loro disquisizioni sulle parti delle opere, sulle differenze tra le conduzioni, sui singoli strumenti... mentirei in maniera spudorata.
Murakami ama la musica classica e il jazz, e questo non sorprende nessun suo lettore. Da sempre nei suoi libri jazz e musica classica sono presenti, a volte sullo sfondo e altre quasi in primo piano.
Io di musica classica mi sono fermato ai brani più famosi e universalmente noti, al ricordo di qualche tentativo di analisi di Pierino e il Lupo ai tempi della scuola (elementare? media? boh), e a un paio di concerti di musica barocca presenziati perché vi suonava un amico.
Non molto. Praticamente niente.
La mia passione musicale risiede altrove, ma la passione e l'amore sprigionati dalla penna di Haruki mi hanno invogliato a tentare di avvicinarmi alla classica.
Mozart e Beethoven forse, scelte classiche e sicure. Qualche opera di Puccini, forse, visto che gioco in casa. O magari mi butterò direttamente su Brahms e Mahler, magari cercando Gould e Karajan e Serkin, Bernstein, Ozawa stesso.
Lo devo a Murakami, no, questo tentativo?
E sono sicuro che quando sarò in grado di seguire adeguatamente queste conversazioni, apprezzerò maggiormente il libro e gli scambi di idee tra il mio scrittore preferito e uno dei più grandi maestri musicali contemporanei.
Ho provato a leggere ascoltando poi i brani di cui Murakami e il Maestro Ozawa stavano parlando, ma se dicessi che sono stato in grado di seguire le loro disquisizioni sulle parti delle opere, sulle differenze tra le conduzioni, sui singoli strumenti... mentirei in maniera spudorata.
Murakami ama la musica classica e il jazz, e questo non sorprende nessun suo lettore. Da sempre nei suoi libri jazz e musica classica sono presenti, a volte sullo sfondo e altre quasi in primo piano.
Io di musica classica mi sono fermato ai brani più famosi e universalmente noti, al ricordo di qualche tentativo di analisi di Pierino e il Lupo ai tempi della scuola (elementare? media? boh), e a un paio di concerti di musica barocca presenziati perché vi suonava un amico.
Non molto. Praticamente niente.
La mia passione musicale risiede altrove, ma la passione e l'amore sprigionati dalla penna di Haruki mi hanno invogliato a tentare di avvicinarmi alla classica.
Mozart e Beethoven forse, scelte classiche e sicure. Qualche opera di Puccini, forse, visto che gioco in casa. O magari mi butterò direttamente su Brahms e Mahler, magari cercando Gould e Karajan e Serkin, Bernstein, Ozawa stesso.
Lo devo a Murakami, no, questo tentativo?
E sono sicuro che quando sarò in grado di seguire adeguatamente queste conversazioni, apprezzerò maggiormente il libro e gli scambi di idee tra il mio scrittore preferito e uno dei più grandi maestri musicali contemporanei.
February 8, 2019
Îmi vine cumva să râd amar când îmi aduc aminte de mine la 16 ani, urând cu pasiune muzica clasică. :)) Habar n-aveam ce pierd! Dintre toate genurile, opera mi se părea cea mai detestabilă. Iar acum, opera e suflețelul meu. Unde vreau să ajung, de fapt...
Cartea lui Murakami despre muzică este în principal despre muzica clasică. ÎNSĂ! Chiar dacă nu prea ați avut întâlniri de gradul III cu ea până acum, e foarte posibil ca dialogul dintre Murakami și Ozawa să vă apropie de o lume muzicală în care veți putea pătrunde mai ușor, fără prejudecăți. Și eu sunt doar o amatoare, dar „Pur și simplu despre muzică” m-a făcut să descopăr micile diferențe dintre interpretările diferitelor orchestre sub baghetele diferiților dirijori, iar în plus, m-am cam îndrăgostit de muzica lui Mahler. Și nu numai atât, dar am înțeles cum trebuie savurată. :)
„Pur și simplu despre muzică”, deși vorbește despre cea clasică în genere, nu este o carte pretențioasă, snoabă, așa cum poate, recunosc, și eu m-am așteptat puțin, ci o carte sinceră, cu momente amuzante, care oferă multe „secrete” din interiorul lumii muzicale globale. Datorită ei l-am descoperit pe Mahler, pe Glenn Gould, i-am redescoperit pe Brahms și Beethoven. E o carte pe care într-adevăr am savurat-o!
Ca un fel de mic avertisment: dacă nu vă interesează absolut deloc muzica clasică și modul absolut fascinant în care funcționează o orchestră sub bagheta unui dirijor, există toate șansele să vă plictisiți. Însă mie mi-a plăcut foarte mult și o recomand ca o lectură de destindere.
P.S. Murakami is just being Murakami, which I absolutely adored!
Cartea lui Murakami despre muzică este în principal despre muzica clasică. ÎNSĂ! Chiar dacă nu prea ați avut întâlniri de gradul III cu ea până acum, e foarte posibil ca dialogul dintre Murakami și Ozawa să vă apropie de o lume muzicală în care veți putea pătrunde mai ușor, fără prejudecăți. Și eu sunt doar o amatoare, dar „Pur și simplu despre muzică” m-a făcut să descopăr micile diferențe dintre interpretările diferitelor orchestre sub baghetele diferiților dirijori, iar în plus, m-am cam îndrăgostit de muzica lui Mahler. Și nu numai atât, dar am înțeles cum trebuie savurată. :)
„Pur și simplu despre muzică”, deși vorbește despre cea clasică în genere, nu este o carte pretențioasă, snoabă, așa cum poate, recunosc, și eu m-am așteptat puțin, ci o carte sinceră, cu momente amuzante, care oferă multe „secrete” din interiorul lumii muzicale globale. Datorită ei l-am descoperit pe Mahler, pe Glenn Gould, i-am redescoperit pe Brahms și Beethoven. E o carte pe care într-adevăr am savurat-o!
Ca un fel de mic avertisment: dacă nu vă interesează absolut deloc muzica clasică și modul absolut fascinant în care funcționează o orchestră sub bagheta unui dirijor, există toate șansele să vă plictisiți. Însă mie mi-a plăcut foarte mult și o recomand ca o lectură de destindere.
P.S. Murakami is just being Murakami, which I absolutely adored!
February 14, 2017
i feel like this is probably really really good if you know a lot more about classical music than I do. As it was, I was just fascinated by the eerie dynamic btw Murakami and Ozawa:
Murakami: I will now ask you to listen to this recording you made forty years ago
Ozawa: ha ha okay
Murakami: Let's stop the tape at 3:39, I'm intrigued by the timpani hiss here, why did you do that
Ozawa: huh! never noticed that before, don't remember
Murakami: I see
Murakami: I will now ask you to listen to this recording of the same piece you made thirty-five years ago
Ozawa has a note in the afterword saying "Murakami sure loves music! He loves it to a frightening degree!" I could kinda go with him about running in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running but that book wasn't a conversation with, idk, someone who is very good at running, and did not assume quite as much background knowledge
The best part is the part where Ozawa is teaching the students to become True Musicians, but it happens right at the end and takes some slogging to get to
I talked about this book with someone in a bar while waiting for a friend to show up for a business meeting; he was a composer who worked for the post office and said this book was very good if you were a composer, so add another star maybe if you are one (dynamic scoring)
Murakami: I will now ask you to listen to this recording you made forty years ago
Ozawa: ha ha okay
Murakami: Let's stop the tape at 3:39, I'm intrigued by the timpani hiss here, why did you do that
Ozawa: huh! never noticed that before, don't remember
Murakami: I see
Murakami: I will now ask you to listen to this recording of the same piece you made thirty-five years ago
Ozawa has a note in the afterword saying "Murakami sure loves music! He loves it to a frightening degree!" I could kinda go with him about running in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running but that book wasn't a conversation with, idk, someone who is very good at running, and did not assume quite as much background knowledge
The best part is the part where Ozawa is teaching the students to become True Musicians, but it happens right at the end and takes some slogging to get to
I talked about this book with someone in a bar while waiting for a friend to show up for a business meeting; he was a composer who worked for the post office and said this book was very good if you were a composer, so add another star maybe if you are one (dynamic scoring)
October 11, 2020
Todo lo que leo de Murakami me fascina, me hubiera gustado que este libro se llamara De qué hablo cuando hablo de música (como sus otros De qué hablo cuando hablo de correr, y de escribir), porque no necesita entrevistar a nadie para hablar del alma, de su amor a la música, sabe tanto!
En este caso mis conocimientos son ridículos y penosos (sé más sobre correr y sobre el escribir) por eso no alcanzo a disfrutarlo en su totalidad, pero cada vez que Murakami dice algo en el libeo, lo amo más (a Haruki).
Leer este libro acompañada del playlist de Spotify le dió un carácter mágico, me regresó a mi infancia donde escuchábamos las 4 hermanas las tardes de los domingos música clásica con mi padre. Me recordó que hay un mundo complejo y fantástico que es el de este tipo de música. me hizo entender mejor sus palabras.
Aún así, no logro conectarme del todo con lo que dicen, es muy superior a mis conocimientos, tengo mucho por descubrir aun, y mucho por trabajar para sensibilizarme como ellos lo hacen con cada pieza que analizan.
Para los conocedores, es una delicia. Yo lo prefiero a él solito para mí, en sus ficciones o en los libros de su autoría única.
En este caso mis conocimientos son ridículos y penosos (sé más sobre correr y sobre el escribir) por eso no alcanzo a disfrutarlo en su totalidad, pero cada vez que Murakami dice algo en el libeo, lo amo más (a Haruki).
Leer este libro acompañada del playlist de Spotify le dió un carácter mágico, me regresó a mi infancia donde escuchábamos las 4 hermanas las tardes de los domingos música clásica con mi padre. Me recordó que hay un mundo complejo y fantástico que es el de este tipo de música. me hizo entender mejor sus palabras.
Aún así, no logro conectarme del todo con lo que dicen, es muy superior a mis conocimientos, tengo mucho por descubrir aun, y mucho por trabajar para sensibilizarme como ellos lo hacen con cada pieza que analizan.
Para los conocedores, es una delicia. Yo lo prefiero a él solito para mí, en sus ficciones o en los libros de su autoría única.
December 13, 2021
Составила себе плейлист на год вперёд!
Чудесная история, как молодой и бедный Одзава зарабатывал 150 долларов в месяц, а на 100 они с женой снимали квартиру. На кондиционер не хватало, поэтому в особенно жаркие летние дни шли спать в дешёвый ночной кинотеатр: два часа поспал, вышел, потом ещё два часа на другом сеансе.
Чудесная история, как молодой и бедный Одзава зарабатывал 150 долларов в месяц, а на 100 они с женой снимали квартиру. На кондиционер не хватало, поэтому в особенно жаркие летние дни шли спать в дешёвый ночной кинотеатр: два часа поспал, вышел, потом ещё два часа на другом сеансе.
October 28, 2017
When I was about four years old, I received a gift of a mechanical bear cub that climbed a pole. I looked at the illustration on the box and was disappointed when I opened it that the toy itself didn't look as perfect as the illustration. I imagine that four years of age is a bit young to start being jaded, but I think I learned then that it doesn't always pay to have expectations that are too high. One's expectations might be fulfilled, but not necessarily. In the case of this book, the reality fell short of what I had hoped for.
I expected the book to be conversations on music, but most of it is conversations (primarily jumpstarted by Murakami) on conducting. I suppose I should have expected that, since Ozawa ia a conductor, but I'd hoped that there would be more discussion on music in general. That was somewhat disappointing for me, but, as I say, I should have expected it. I did learn a bit about a conductor's role and about certain compositions, so I'm grateful for that.
I had some differences of opinion with certain things that were said, and that's a good thing. If I agreed with everything I read in a non-fiction book, there would be no point in reading.
However, there was a point offered that was factually incorrect. There is discussion of Leonard Bernstein reviving Gustav Mahler's music for concert audiences. Murakami makes the statement:
"Afterward (after WW II) it fell to America, and not Europe, to become the powerhouse for the current Mahler revival."
I don't know about "powerhouse" (Bernstein certainly had a heavy duty publicity machine behind him), but Jascha Horenstein conducted Mahler in Europe in the 1950's, and the 1959 performance he conducted of Mahler's 8th Symphony at Royal Albert Hall is considered by many to be the beginning of the Mahler revival.
I would have thought that either a renowned conductor like Ozawa or a fanatical record collector like Murakami would have had some knowledge of that fact.
A minor nitpick about the book that annoyed me a bit is that Ozawa continually refers to Bernstein as "Lenny", while he refers to Herbert von Karajan as "Maestro Karajan" or "the Maestro". Perhaps Bernstein had a less formal relationship with his assistants, and didn't mind being called Lenny, while Karajan wanted to be called Maestro. I don't know. But Karajan had been dead for over twenty years when the conversations for this book were recorded, so (at least to my mind) there was no need to continue referring to him as "Maestro Karajan". It may be that Ozawa didn't respect Bernstein (although he gave Ozawa his first appointment as assistant conductor and Ozawa made his first concert appearance with the NY Philharmonic when he was Bernstein's assistant) and did respect Karajan. Again, I don't know. It just seemed strange to me.
I did learn things from reading this book, but it was just a case of overly high expectations that weren't met.
I expected the book to be conversations on music, but most of it is conversations (primarily jumpstarted by Murakami) on conducting. I suppose I should have expected that, since Ozawa ia a conductor, but I'd hoped that there would be more discussion on music in general. That was somewhat disappointing for me, but, as I say, I should have expected it. I did learn a bit about a conductor's role and about certain compositions, so I'm grateful for that.
I had some differences of opinion with certain things that were said, and that's a good thing. If I agreed with everything I read in a non-fiction book, there would be no point in reading.
However, there was a point offered that was factually incorrect. There is discussion of Leonard Bernstein reviving Gustav Mahler's music for concert audiences. Murakami makes the statement:
"Afterward (after WW II) it fell to America, and not Europe, to become the powerhouse for the current Mahler revival."
I don't know about "powerhouse" (Bernstein certainly had a heavy duty publicity machine behind him), but Jascha Horenstein conducted Mahler in Europe in the 1950's, and the 1959 performance he conducted of Mahler's 8th Symphony at Royal Albert Hall is considered by many to be the beginning of the Mahler revival.
I would have thought that either a renowned conductor like Ozawa or a fanatical record collector like Murakami would have had some knowledge of that fact.
A minor nitpick about the book that annoyed me a bit is that Ozawa continually refers to Bernstein as "Lenny", while he refers to Herbert von Karajan as "Maestro Karajan" or "the Maestro". Perhaps Bernstein had a less formal relationship with his assistants, and didn't mind being called Lenny, while Karajan wanted to be called Maestro. I don't know. But Karajan had been dead for over twenty years when the conversations for this book were recorded, so (at least to my mind) there was no need to continue referring to him as "Maestro Karajan". It may be that Ozawa didn't respect Bernstein (although he gave Ozawa his first appointment as assistant conductor and Ozawa made his first concert appearance with the NY Philharmonic when he was Bernstein's assistant) and did respect Karajan. Again, I don't know. It just seemed strange to me.
I did learn things from reading this book, but it was just a case of overly high expectations that weren't met.
October 10, 2019
Un viaggio tra musica e scrittura, all'interno di sei conversazioni intime avvenute tra il maestro Ozawa e Murakami, tra il 2010 e il 2011, nel periodo in cui il maestro, a causa di un'operazione, non stava particolarmente bene.
Due scenari che a prima vista appaiono completamente diversi e distanti, come possono essere quelli che si prospettano al romanziere davanti a una pagina da scrivere e a un direttore di orchestra davanti a una partitura da far eseguire, man mano che ci si mette in ascolto di queste conversazioni, si scopre che non lo sono così tanto. Un direttore d'orchestra deve essere completamente ricettivo nei confronti dei musicisti che compongono l'orchestra che dirige perché ogni singolo suono, con la sua identità, diventi parte del tutto, in perfetta armonia, lasciandosi trasportare dal flusso della musica. Così il narratore. Mette insieme i suoi personaggi, ne ascolta le singole voci, e imprime un ritmo alla scrittura, perché il lettore si possa immergere nel flusso della narrazione, così come fa un ascoltatore di un brano di musica classica.
Per Murakami la musica buona è quella classica o il jazz. Gli altri generi non sono buona musica.
Da Bernstein a Mahler, da Beethoven a Bach, da Strauss a Tchaikovsky, passando per Karajan, fino a sconfinare nell'arte di Klimt e Schiele, ci si sente trasportati in un'altra dimensione.
Ecco cosa fa questo libro: aiuta ad affinare l'orecchio, perché ci si possa finalmente immergere e farsi completamente permeare dalla buona musica.
Due scenari che a prima vista appaiono completamente diversi e distanti, come possono essere quelli che si prospettano al romanziere davanti a una pagina da scrivere e a un direttore di orchestra davanti a una partitura da far eseguire, man mano che ci si mette in ascolto di queste conversazioni, si scopre che non lo sono così tanto. Un direttore d'orchestra deve essere completamente ricettivo nei confronti dei musicisti che compongono l'orchestra che dirige perché ogni singolo suono, con la sua identità, diventi parte del tutto, in perfetta armonia, lasciandosi trasportare dal flusso della musica. Così il narratore. Mette insieme i suoi personaggi, ne ascolta le singole voci, e imprime un ritmo alla scrittura, perché il lettore si possa immergere nel flusso della narrazione, così come fa un ascoltatore di un brano di musica classica.
Per Murakami la musica buona è quella classica o il jazz. Gli altri generi non sono buona musica.
Da Bernstein a Mahler, da Beethoven a Bach, da Strauss a Tchaikovsky, passando per Karajan, fino a sconfinare nell'arte di Klimt e Schiele, ci si sente trasportati in un'altra dimensione.
Ecco cosa fa questo libro: aiuta ad affinare l'orecchio, perché ci si possa finalmente immergere e farsi completamente permeare dalla buona musica.
March 16, 2024
An absolutely splendid book of the conversations of Haruki Murakami with Seiji Ozawa. The times the latter spent as an assistant director to Karajan and Bernstein are like looking into another world.
I only heard about Ozawa because his death last month was mentioned on France Musique. If fact an entire day was spent with tributes to him. I was fascinated by these and thus bought the book. I'm so glad I did.
I only heard about Ozawa because his death last month was mentioned on France Musique. If fact an entire day was spent with tributes to him. I was fascinated by these and thus bought the book. I'm so glad I did.
January 17, 2017
As a professional musician, I opened this book with a great deal of enthusiasm; how exciting for an appreciative musical amateur to glean insight from a great conductor and share it with the world, with the intention of making it accessible to an amateur musical audience. I wanted so badly to love this book.
Unfortunately, Murakami does most of the talking, and he pushes (shoves, molds, and bullies) the conversation where he wants it to go, rather than asking his questions and letting Ozawa share his insight. As a musician, even I would never presume to put myself on an equal level with Ozawa and push the conversation around in this way, so it is especially frustrating when a non-musician does this. He wanted to hear what an expert in the field had to say about music, but he talked more than he listened. He contributed more than he learned. It was as if his goal in writing this was to vomit his own opinion and get Ozawa to agree with it. I closed this book frustrated.
Unfortunately, Murakami does most of the talking, and he pushes (shoves, molds, and bullies) the conversation where he wants it to go, rather than asking his questions and letting Ozawa share his insight. As a musician, even I would never presume to put myself on an equal level with Ozawa and push the conversation around in this way, so it is especially frustrating when a non-musician does this. He wanted to hear what an expert in the field had to say about music, but he talked more than he listened. He contributed more than he learned. It was as if his goal in writing this was to vomit his own opinion and get Ozawa to agree with it. I closed this book frustrated.
November 2, 2018
4 Stars - Excellent book
The musical conversations in this book are truly unique and like nothing I’ve ever read before. Murakami presents these conversations in an engaging and almost lyrical way.
Haruki Murakami, world-renowned author, sits down with Seiji Ozawa, world-renowned conductor, for conversations on music (hence the title). They sit down for 6 conversations and Murakami observes Ozawa in action as he conducts his academy for youth musicians in Switzerland. Topics range from musical compositions, Ozawa’s beginnings and relationship with the Leonard Bernstein, blues and jazz, and all things classical music (particularly German compositions).
Before reading I knew who Murakami was and have read some of his works. He’s a fantastic writer. I did not know Ozawa. I love classical music but I would never dare consider myself an expert nor even a dilettante. I listen without paying real attention to the composers and the orchestras that produced said recordings. However, this book will change the way I listen to classical music, and music more generally I think.
One of my favorite things about this book is the insight into Leonard Bernstein, or Lenny as Ozawa affectionately calls him. He wasn’t a good disciplinarian but he was a brilliant conductor (and composer). It seems as if Ozawa learned a lot from him, but did the opposite. Bernstein’s style, most of the time, didn’t fit Ozawa but it is quite clear that the student learned from the master.
Murakami’s superb musical knowledge is highly impressive. He like’s music, that’s clear; his book Norwegian Wood is named after a Beatles song. Music seems to have deeply impacted this writer and the way he writes about it is beautiful. Take for example the following:
Or:
This book is meticulously researched and written. The conversations are structured yet lively and interspersed with fascinating tangents. Murakami put a lot of effort into this little book and it shows.
Do I recommend this? Yes! If you’re a fan of music (classical or not), Ozawa, Mukarami, or wan to try something new you’ll get something out of it.
The musical conversations in this book are truly unique and like nothing I’ve ever read before. Murakami presents these conversations in an engaging and almost lyrical way.
Haruki Murakami, world-renowned author, sits down with Seiji Ozawa, world-renowned conductor, for conversations on music (hence the title). They sit down for 6 conversations and Murakami observes Ozawa in action as he conducts his academy for youth musicians in Switzerland. Topics range from musical compositions, Ozawa’s beginnings and relationship with the Leonard Bernstein, blues and jazz, and all things classical music (particularly German compositions).
Before reading I knew who Murakami was and have read some of his works. He’s a fantastic writer. I did not know Ozawa. I love classical music but I would never dare consider myself an expert nor even a dilettante. I listen without paying real attention to the composers and the orchestras that produced said recordings. However, this book will change the way I listen to classical music, and music more generally I think.
One of my favorite things about this book is the insight into Leonard Bernstein, or Lenny as Ozawa affectionately calls him. He wasn’t a good disciplinarian but he was a brilliant conductor (and composer). It seems as if Ozawa learned a lot from him, but did the opposite. Bernstein’s style, most of the time, didn’t fit Ozawa but it is quite clear that the student learned from the master.
Murakami’s superb musical knowledge is highly impressive. He like’s music, that’s clear; his book Norwegian Wood is named after a Beatles song. Music seems to have deeply impacted this writer and the way he writes about it is beautiful. Take for example the following:
”They give the impression of a very deep and meticulous reading of the score, as though he’s become convinced that the more deeply you burrow into the score itself, the more naturally Mahler is going to emerge.” -p. 158
Or:
”The clarinet adds an indefinably mysterious touch to the melody, the strange tones of a bird crying out a prophecy deep in the forest.” -p. 173
This book is meticulously researched and written. The conversations are structured yet lively and interspersed with fascinating tangents. Murakami put a lot of effort into this little book and it shows.
Do I recommend this? Yes! If you’re a fan of music (classical or not), Ozawa, Mukarami, or wan to try something new you’ll get something out of it.
January 13, 2021
Si juntamos a un escritor como Murakami con un músico de la talla de Seiji Ozawa, y se ponen a conversar acerca de la música, de la buena música... Pues queda una obra tan sentida como esta, en la que ambos trascienden del tema principal a través de anécdotas e historias, análisis de diversas obras y situaciones, mostrando cómo la música (y también la literatura) manifiestan el espíritu humano de superación. Especialmente deliciosa la última conversación, que gira acerca del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.
Sumamente recomendable.
Sumamente recomendable.
May 11, 2019
I'm not the target audience for this book. I'm not someone that listens to classical music. I don't listen to much music at all really. I read this simply because I am a completionist. Especially when it comes to Murakami.
That being said there are some fantastic phrases here. And some interesting thoughts on more than music. So well worth a read if you enjoy this topic or if it sounds interesting to you.
That being said there are some fantastic phrases here. And some interesting thoughts on more than music. So well worth a read if you enjoy this topic or if it sounds interesting to you.
September 3, 2016
The genius that is Seiji Ozawa and Harukuki Murakami is revealed in this series of intimate conversations. Plus, we get a crash course in music and conducting. Engrossing!
March 30, 2018
Всички почитатели на Мураками знаят какъв меломан е той. Но от романите му (и биографията му) разбираме предимно какви са неговите предпочитания в джаза и донякъде в рока. А ‘Absolutely on Music’ е посветена на класическата музика - разговори на Харуки Мураками със Сейджи Озава през 2011 г. (в момента диригентът е на 82 г.)
Освен за диригентската история на Озава, ми беше много интересно в книгата да прочета и за неговите учители Ленард Бърнстейн (всичко го наричат Лени и е голям шегаджия) и Херберт фон Караян (всички го наричат Маестро Караян и е доста строг), както и за музикалния живот на големи симфонични оркестри предимно от САЩ, които Озава е дирижирал (над 25 години в Бостън). Има интересни сравнения между западния и азиатския манталитет (но това не е акцент в книгата), важно място е отделено на преподаването, огромна част е посветена на Густав Малер.
По време на голяма част от разговорите двамата сънародници слушат съответните произведения. Маруками има всичко на плочи и дискове разбира се – страстен колекционер. Много подробно „разчепкват“ дирижираните от Озава творби през десетилетията (на достъпен език). Ясно си проличава как на Сейджи много-много не му се говори за музика – първо може би го смята за излишно, и второ – малко музиканти умеят да говорят както го може един писател (освен Лени разбира се – “Well, sure, Lenny was such a good talker.”).
Има страници, на които Мураками надълго и нашироко говори за произведенията точно като писател – картинно, богато, емоционално, а Ozawa едва реагира с изрази като: It is! Yes, it’s much better. Maybe. Exactly. No, never. I would. I can’t imagine. Pretty much. и т.н. Разбира се има и разкази от страна на Озава, които дават отлична представа как се работи по едно произведение в голям симфоничен оркестър, как се създава отличителният звук на оркестъра, как се е учил от великите майстори (макар че не е знаел английски в началото в САЩ).
До средата успявах и аз да слушам произведенията успоредно с двамата творци. После бях болна и не можех да слушам. Но както за романите на Мураками съм срещала сайтове със споменатите в тях произведения, така и накрая на тази книга има линк към всички споменати музикални творби.
Малко цитати от самия Озава, колкото и увлекателно и обширно да разказва Мураками. Макар че от друга страна Харуки си признава колко самотна професия има той като писател, а с колко много хора се налага да общува Озава и изглежда го прави с удоволствие и добре (дори без да знае английски и немски в САЩ и Виена).
Всъщност само едно нещо от Мураками:
„So how did I learn to write? From listening to music.”
(Само Милан Кундера съм „чувала“ толкова да говори за музиката – от писателите имам предвид.)
Ozawa:
“Silence is not just the absence of sound: there is a sound called silence.”
“Mahler rebelled singlehandedly against the sturdy mainstream of German music…”
“Back then, the sound of those two orchestras was as different as night and day – the New York and the Berlin.”
“Somebody like me could never write an instruction manual. I don’t have anything to say until I’ve got a musician right in front of me.”
“Maestro Karajan used to have every note memorized, but he kept his eyes closed the whole time.”
“Lenny was a tremendously kind man and he could accommodate my broken English, so we had wonderful long conversations.”
“The art of Egon Schiele is like that, too. When I saw his pictures, I could really see how he and Mahler were living in the same place at the same time.”
Освен за диригентската история на Озава, ми беше много интересно в книгата да прочета и за неговите учители Ленард Бърнстейн (всичко го наричат Лени и е голям шегаджия) и Херберт фон Караян (всички го наричат Маестро Караян и е доста строг), както и за музикалния живот на големи симфонични оркестри предимно от САЩ, които Озава е дирижирал (над 25 години в Бостън). Има интересни сравнения между западния и азиатския манталитет (но това не е акцент в книгата), важно място е отделено на преподаването, огромна част е посветена на Густав Малер.
По време на голяма част от разговорите двамата сънародници слушат съответните произведения. Маруками има всичко на плочи и дискове разбира се – страстен колекционер. Много подробно „разчепкват“ дирижираните от Озава творби през десетилетията (на достъпен език). Ясно си проличава как на Сейджи много-много не му се говори за музика – първо може би го смята за излишно, и второ – малко музиканти умеят да говорят както го може един писател (освен Лени разбира се – “Well, sure, Lenny was such a good talker.”).
Има страници, на които Мураками надълго и нашироко говори за произведенията точно като писател – картинно, богато, емоционално, а Ozawa едва реагира с изрази като: It is! Yes, it’s much better. Maybe. Exactly. No, never. I would. I can’t imagine. Pretty much. и т.н. Разбира се има и разкази от страна на Озава, които дават отлична представа как се работи по едно произведение в голям симфоничен оркестър, как се създава отличителният звук на оркестъра, как се е учил от великите майстори (макар че не е знаел английски в началото в САЩ).
До средата успявах и аз да слушам произведенията успоредно с двамата творци. После бях болна и не можех да слушам. Но както за романите на Мураками съм срещала сайтове със споменатите в тях произведения, така и накрая на тази книга има линк към всички споменати музикални творби.
Малко цитати от самия Озава, колкото и увлекателно и обширно да разказва Мураками. Макар че от друга страна Харуки си признава колко самотна професия има той като писател, а с колко много хора се налага да общува Озава и изглежда го прави с удоволствие и добре (дори без да знае английски и немски в САЩ и Виена).
Всъщност само едно нещо от Мураками:
„So how did I learn to write? From listening to music.”
(Само Милан Кундера съм „чувала“ толкова да говори за музиката – от писателите имам предвид.)
Ozawa:
“Silence is not just the absence of sound: there is a sound called silence.”
“Mahler rebelled singlehandedly against the sturdy mainstream of German music…”
“Back then, the sound of those two orchestras was as different as night and day – the New York and the Berlin.”
“Somebody like me could never write an instruction manual. I don’t have anything to say until I’ve got a musician right in front of me.”
“Maestro Karajan used to have every note memorized, but he kept his eyes closed the whole time.”
“Lenny was a tremendously kind man and he could accommodate my broken English, so we had wonderful long conversations.”
“The art of Egon Schiele is like that, too. When I saw his pictures, I could really see how he and Mahler were living in the same place at the same time.”
March 24, 2017
This book is not for everybody, and yet it is a valuable contribution to nonfiction. If you have any interest in classical music, music history and more, then this is a book for you. It hardly matters if you already know the pieces of music discussed in many parts of this book, because there is a website where you can listen to them to hear what is being discussed. But this is more than a discussion of music, it also brings up history. After all, Ozawa was an assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein for 3 years and worked with others in music history. We also gain insights into Ozawa and his life, albeit not all in a neat, package of chronological tidiness.
If you are a fan of Murakami's novels (I can't say I am--I tried one and didn't care for it and haven't tried another), this is not the same sort of writing. Much of it is interviews with Ozawa, which have been transcribed. There are little interludes with lovely morsels of information, and there is an afterword by Ozawa.
If you are a fan of Murakami's novels (I can't say I am--I tried one and didn't care for it and haven't tried another), this is not the same sort of writing. Much of it is interviews with Ozawa, which have been transcribed. There are little interludes with lovely morsels of information, and there is an afterword by Ozawa.
November 19, 2020
Pues 300 páginas de dos señores chupándose las pollas y hablando de cuestiones técnicas, que si te pasa como a mí y no sabes una mierda de música clásica, se te hacen interminables.
Hacía mucho tiempo que un libro no se me hacía tan cuesta arriba, que horror.
Hacía mucho tiempo que un libro no se me hacía tan cuesta arriba, que horror.
November 11, 2016
Originally posted on my blog: https://bongbongbooks.wordpress.com
"Haruki Murakami....doesn't just love music, he knows it."
- Seiji Ozawa, Absolutely on Music
To be honest, the primary reason why I wanted to read to this book is because it's co-written by Murakami. I am a sucker of anything Murakami so after knowing that he has a new book coming out, I took the chance and requested an advance reader's copy from the publisher. Upon learning that my request was approved, I got excited for two things; first, this will be my first nonfiction book that I'll read from Murakami and second, I will be one of the first few people who will be able to read his newest work. I still can remember how I felt when the book finally arrived at my doorsteps, I was all over the moon. I was at that time very excited to read this book without even thinking what the scope of the book will be. Yeah, I read the synopsis and all that and I know that the book is basically a transcript of conversations between Murakami and Ozawa who are considered as masters in their own fields but that's just basically it. I read quite a few nonfiction books in my life but never did I have once read a book about music. I also don't know how Murakami writes nonfiction or how he structures it so when I started it I was a little thrown off my seat. I did expect that, for sure, it will be different from all the other Murakami books that I read and I always have to think about that while reading this book. I did expect that considering that the two are virtuoso in their own fields, being intimidated will just be normal. I expected that since it will be about music, a subject that I despise since my elementary days, I should keep an open mind. (Don't get me wrong here, I like listening to music, what I am not a fan of are its technicalities which for me is overwhelming.) What I did not expect was how the book will totally immerse me in a world that I have little to no knowledge about. It brought me to a literary adventure far different from what I've experienced from previous books not just by Murakami but also by other authors. It's unconventional but it's magical.
"...because music itself is a thing of such breadth and generosity."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
If you're an avid reader of Murakami's works, you are probably aware on how he incorporate music in his books. I have always been puzzled about his knowledge in music because of the way he infuses it in his books. A couple of the titles of his books like Norwegian Wood, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and South of the Border, West of the Sun were derived from song titles with Norwegian Wood from The Beatles, Years of Pilgrimage of Franz Liszt and South of the Border by Nat King Cole. And also the numerous mentions of song titles in his books that ranges from classical, jazz to pop that, based on the books that I read, I can remember having Rolling Stones, Schubert, Prince and Haydn mentioned. There are actually a lot of Murakami playlists available in the web if you like to indulge in Murakami's musical references. There were a lot of times, wile reading this book, I felt like, Murakami is in his comfort zone. He really knows what he's talking about and it seems like he put a part of his soul in this one.
It's funny though that he always consider himself in the book as an amateur but the depth of his knowledge about music is really not what I can consider as an amateur. In this book, his fans will have a glimpse of how music runs deep in his veins. He has this huge collection of rare vinyls that he got in his travels which even Ozawa is amaze about. He's also this passionate lover of classical orchestras and operas, having attended a lot in different parts of the world and each share their experiences.
I don't know who Seiji Ozawa is before reading this book. This book introduced me to him and his contribution to the world of music. With his experiences, posts that he served, organizations and awards he received, without a doubt he's a legend. Now 81, he's best known for being the lead conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Recuperating from an operation for esophageal cancer in 2010 created time for him to sit down with Murakami in different locations and time between 2010 and 2011 allowing this book to come into fruition.
"The two things needed for "good music" to come into being were, first of all, a spark, and secondly, magic. If either was missing, "good music" wouldn't happen."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
Each discussion in this book starts with Murakami playing a piece with the two talking what they think about it, the interpretations that they heard from different venues interpreted by different conductors then comparing each. Take this as an example:
"In the simplest terms, the first Boston performance has a very fresh feel to it overall. It's a young man's music tht goes straight for the heart. The second Boston performance is terrific, with an added density that only the Boston Symphony could produce. But the newest one, with the Saito Kinen Orchestra, feels absolutely transparent to me - as though you can see every little detail. All the inner voices come clearly to the surface. I really enjoyed comparing the recordings and hearing these references."
The conversation will then move to a more personal level as they talk about their experiences as each try to develop their crafts and their struggles and challenges along the way. They started sharing their work habits which I find insightful. Murakami connects the similarities with music and writing to eventually talking about what music meant to them. There's that feeling of being excited in every page that you turn because you're getting this new personal facts about the author that you adore.
I like how immersing their discussions went. Murakami has this conviction in his words showing that he really knows what he's talking about. He controls the flow of the discussion and he knows the questions to ask. I like how Murakami glued my attention to the book by the way he asks the questions and he always follows it up with his observations with Ozawa sharing his own thoughts about it too. They talked about a lot different personalities from musicians, conductors, composers, orchestras, soloists to icons like Beethoven, Brahm, Haydn, Mahler Bernstein, Gould, Armstrong, Stravinsky, Bartok and Shostakovich among others. The diversity and range of topics discussed are really impressive. The topics range from the development and differences of orchestras and operas then and now in a couple of parts of the world (like Tokyo, Berlin, Vienna and San Francisco among others) to the shift to digital recording.
There are really parts that are really intimidating, specially those parts where the two talks about technicalities when they compare works like for instance the dynamics and beat of each piece. They talk about details in depth in some parts and for someone who doesn't have any idea as to what they're talking about like me, it can be a little bit dragging. This line in the book by Seiji Ozawa best describe how intricate it is to create a music: "All it takes is one teaspoon too much or too little, and you can change the whole flavor of the music." The book also has this tendency to also repeat numerous references and I was lost in some parts. It's good that there's humor thrown here and there to balance the prose.
"I believe that music exists to make people happy."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
But nonetheless, this book is full of optimism and I like how relax the book's flow went which can be attributed to Jay Rubin in a way. I like how despite being a nonfiction, this book carried some style of Murakami's fiction books. It may sound weird but this book has that light and absorbing style that I always enjoy when I read a book by Murakami. He mentioned in this book that a good writing follows a rhythm and that I believe is what he always do in his books. With this book, I saw the connection of his love of music to him being a writer. This book encouraged me to search the musical pieces mentioned in the book and listen to each. This book encouraged me to appreciate classical music or even just to give it a try. As how Seiji Oza puts it, "....the important thing is not so much to learn it, as to immerse yourself in it. The challenging thing is whether or not you can get inside a work once you've learned it."
Aside from talking about the power and nature of music, this book also offered a background as to how the Murakami and Ozawa met and how the two developed their friendship and their shared passion for music. The two are bonded by their love for music and this book is a testament to that. This book served as like my resource book about orchestras and operas. Murakami and Ozawa became like my navigators in a world that is foreign to me. Though I am not a person who listens to classical music or have an idea about musical theories and technicalities, I still did find this book enjoyable.
Murakami continues to amaze me with what he can write and what he can offer. I have yet to read a book from him that I won't enjoy. This book will be officially released on November 15 so be sure to check it out.
4 stars out of 5.
PS. I'll definitely be on the lookout for this book's audio book. I hope it would be accompanied by music as both discuss each musical piece.
Note: My gratitude to Harvill Secker/Vintage Books for providing me a review copy in exchange for a honest and unbiased review. In no way was my opinion about the book influenced.
"Haruki Murakami....doesn't just love music, he knows it."
- Seiji Ozawa, Absolutely on Music
To be honest, the primary reason why I wanted to read to this book is because it's co-written by Murakami. I am a sucker of anything Murakami so after knowing that he has a new book coming out, I took the chance and requested an advance reader's copy from the publisher. Upon learning that my request was approved, I got excited for two things; first, this will be my first nonfiction book that I'll read from Murakami and second, I will be one of the first few people who will be able to read his newest work. I still can remember how I felt when the book finally arrived at my doorsteps, I was all over the moon. I was at that time very excited to read this book without even thinking what the scope of the book will be. Yeah, I read the synopsis and all that and I know that the book is basically a transcript of conversations between Murakami and Ozawa who are considered as masters in their own fields but that's just basically it. I read quite a few nonfiction books in my life but never did I have once read a book about music. I also don't know how Murakami writes nonfiction or how he structures it so when I started it I was a little thrown off my seat. I did expect that, for sure, it will be different from all the other Murakami books that I read and I always have to think about that while reading this book. I did expect that considering that the two are virtuoso in their own fields, being intimidated will just be normal. I expected that since it will be about music, a subject that I despise since my elementary days, I should keep an open mind. (Don't get me wrong here, I like listening to music, what I am not a fan of are its technicalities which for me is overwhelming.) What I did not expect was how the book will totally immerse me in a world that I have little to no knowledge about. It brought me to a literary adventure far different from what I've experienced from previous books not just by Murakami but also by other authors. It's unconventional but it's magical.
"...because music itself is a thing of such breadth and generosity."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
If you're an avid reader of Murakami's works, you are probably aware on how he incorporate music in his books. I have always been puzzled about his knowledge in music because of the way he infuses it in his books. A couple of the titles of his books like Norwegian Wood, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and South of the Border, West of the Sun were derived from song titles with Norwegian Wood from The Beatles, Years of Pilgrimage of Franz Liszt and South of the Border by Nat King Cole. And also the numerous mentions of song titles in his books that ranges from classical, jazz to pop that, based on the books that I read, I can remember having Rolling Stones, Schubert, Prince and Haydn mentioned. There are actually a lot of Murakami playlists available in the web if you like to indulge in Murakami's musical references. There were a lot of times, wile reading this book, I felt like, Murakami is in his comfort zone. He really knows what he's talking about and it seems like he put a part of his soul in this one.
It's funny though that he always consider himself in the book as an amateur but the depth of his knowledge about music is really not what I can consider as an amateur. In this book, his fans will have a glimpse of how music runs deep in his veins. He has this huge collection of rare vinyls that he got in his travels which even Ozawa is amaze about. He's also this passionate lover of classical orchestras and operas, having attended a lot in different parts of the world and each share their experiences.
I don't know who Seiji Ozawa is before reading this book. This book introduced me to him and his contribution to the world of music. With his experiences, posts that he served, organizations and awards he received, without a doubt he's a legend. Now 81, he's best known for being the lead conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Recuperating from an operation for esophageal cancer in 2010 created time for him to sit down with Murakami in different locations and time between 2010 and 2011 allowing this book to come into fruition.
"The two things needed for "good music" to come into being were, first of all, a spark, and secondly, magic. If either was missing, "good music" wouldn't happen."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
Each discussion in this book starts with Murakami playing a piece with the two talking what they think about it, the interpretations that they heard from different venues interpreted by different conductors then comparing each. Take this as an example:
"In the simplest terms, the first Boston performance has a very fresh feel to it overall. It's a young man's music tht goes straight for the heart. The second Boston performance is terrific, with an added density that only the Boston Symphony could produce. But the newest one, with the Saito Kinen Orchestra, feels absolutely transparent to me - as though you can see every little detail. All the inner voices come clearly to the surface. I really enjoyed comparing the recordings and hearing these references."
The conversation will then move to a more personal level as they talk about their experiences as each try to develop their crafts and their struggles and challenges along the way. They started sharing their work habits which I find insightful. Murakami connects the similarities with music and writing to eventually talking about what music meant to them. There's that feeling of being excited in every page that you turn because you're getting this new personal facts about the author that you adore.
I like how immersing their discussions went. Murakami has this conviction in his words showing that he really knows what he's talking about. He controls the flow of the discussion and he knows the questions to ask. I like how Murakami glued my attention to the book by the way he asks the questions and he always follows it up with his observations with Ozawa sharing his own thoughts about it too. They talked about a lot different personalities from musicians, conductors, composers, orchestras, soloists to icons like Beethoven, Brahm, Haydn, Mahler Bernstein, Gould, Armstrong, Stravinsky, Bartok and Shostakovich among others. The diversity and range of topics discussed are really impressive. The topics range from the development and differences of orchestras and operas then and now in a couple of parts of the world (like Tokyo, Berlin, Vienna and San Francisco among others) to the shift to digital recording.
There are really parts that are really intimidating, specially those parts where the two talks about technicalities when they compare works like for instance the dynamics and beat of each piece. They talk about details in depth in some parts and for someone who doesn't have any idea as to what they're talking about like me, it can be a little bit dragging. This line in the book by Seiji Ozawa best describe how intricate it is to create a music: "All it takes is one teaspoon too much or too little, and you can change the whole flavor of the music." The book also has this tendency to also repeat numerous references and I was lost in some parts. It's good that there's humor thrown here and there to balance the prose.
"I believe that music exists to make people happy."
- Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music
But nonetheless, this book is full of optimism and I like how relax the book's flow went which can be attributed to Jay Rubin in a way. I like how despite being a nonfiction, this book carried some style of Murakami's fiction books. It may sound weird but this book has that light and absorbing style that I always enjoy when I read a book by Murakami. He mentioned in this book that a good writing follows a rhythm and that I believe is what he always do in his books. With this book, I saw the connection of his love of music to him being a writer. This book encouraged me to search the musical pieces mentioned in the book and listen to each. This book encouraged me to appreciate classical music or even just to give it a try. As how Seiji Oza puts it, "....the important thing is not so much to learn it, as to immerse yourself in it. The challenging thing is whether or not you can get inside a work once you've learned it."
Aside from talking about the power and nature of music, this book also offered a background as to how the Murakami and Ozawa met and how the two developed their friendship and their shared passion for music. The two are bonded by their love for music and this book is a testament to that. This book served as like my resource book about orchestras and operas. Murakami and Ozawa became like my navigators in a world that is foreign to me. Though I am not a person who listens to classical music or have an idea about musical theories and technicalities, I still did find this book enjoyable.
Murakami continues to amaze me with what he can write and what he can offer. I have yet to read a book from him that I won't enjoy. This book will be officially released on November 15 so be sure to check it out.
4 stars out of 5.
PS. I'll definitely be on the lookout for this book's audio book. I hope it would be accompanied by music as both discuss each musical piece.
Note: My gratitude to Harvill Secker/Vintage Books for providing me a review copy in exchange for a honest and unbiased review. In no way was my opinion about the book influenced.
June 20, 2023
A fantastic book that is essentially Murakami having many conversations with the conductor Seiji Ozawa. Note that the high praise for this book for me is not a result of my love for Murakami as an author (which I have!), but rather as an instructional text for orchestral conductors and musicians (which I am). This book belongs on my personal bookshelf with my "Conversations with Conductors," book, my Georg Solti memoir and a host of other conductor-related texts, not necessarily alongside the other works of fiction by this author.
March 19, 2019
Absolutely On Music is a fascinating and insightful life narrative of a great perennial Japanese former classical music director, conductor, and arranger of the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra from America, Seiji Ozawa, whose performances have successfully made the audiences anywhere in the world to experience a heavenly blissful, auditory solace. The book comprised of a number of interviews conducted by our very own enigmatic contemporary Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami, on several special occasions. Ozawa-san, who claimed to be a close friend of the author himself, has undertaken a very generously rich and inspiring journey to be where he is at right now, acknowledged by music lovers as a gilt-edged musical integer. Aside from talking about music (obviously) as its main catalogue raisonné, the book also broached over other closely-knit creative discussions. Murakami-san possessed the keen ability to turned up a mundane topic such as the daily activities in the life of a prolific, gifted virtuoso, into something that is worth reading. He has raised, ever and anon, compelling questions which deemed Ozawa-san to answer them, figuratively speaking, by drawing a comparison between his own professional occupation in music making to Haruki's distinctive knack for storytelling. You cannot help but felt that the two men shared a lot in common, in regards of their enduring passion and dedication to their respective fecund metiers, and that they are always willing to do whatever it takes to improve their mastery of the crafts to the next level. Inclusively, unless you are an avid fan of classical music or a bred-in-the-bone connoisseur of Haruki Murakami's works in general, you should try to read his other books firsthand, before decidedly try to take on this one, at best.
October 20, 2021
Variados aspectos del mundo de la música se tratan por un escritor y un director de orquesta.
November 21, 2016
** Books 298 - 2016 **
I read in English but the review will be written in Indonesian Languange
3,2 dari 5 bintang!
Saya sangat penasaran dengan buku ini ketika melihat teman saya membacanya dan buku ini sudah terpajang rapi di salah satu toko buku. Makin penasaran lagi karena saya mempunyai feeling buku ini akan bercerita tentang Musik Klasik
Benar tebakan saya buku ini menceritakan tentang Musik Klasik! Percakapan antara Haruki Murakami dan Seiji Ozawa dari awal hingga akhir hanya berkutat tentang Musik Klasik, Beethoven, Opera, Konduktor dan Mahler. Saya sempat merasa bosan diawal-awal karena mereka menganalisis musik klasik sampai sedetil itu!! (Bagian pembukaan terasa sendu ya, di part sini terasa grande atau ada perasaan yang meluap-luap yang ingin ditampilkan disini). Saya bahkan salut sekali dengan pengetahuan Haruki Murakami yang bisa membedakan bahwa ada perbedaan karya Mahler yang dimainkan oleh Seiji Ozawa dari era tahun 60an, 70an dan 80an dengan komposisi lagu yang sama padahal >__<
Selain itu saya bisa menangkap bahwa Seiji Ozawa sangat mengagumi dan mencintai karya dari Gustav Mahler karena tingkat keindahan dan kesulitannya yang luar biasa. Komposisi karyanya yang terlihat mudah ketika dibaca tetapi membutuhkan pemahaman yang lebih dalam ketika ia harus mempresentasikan sebagai konduktor atau pemimpin suatu orchestra.
Saya tertarik membaca buku ini karena saya termasuk pecinta musik klasik. Jangan dibandingkan dengan Haruki Murakami ya yang sudah tarafnya penikmat musik klasik dan memiliki berkeping-keping koleksi piringan hitam ya.>__< Saya mengingat musik klasik yang saya suka pertama kali berjudul "Air" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 yang berhasil saya pinjam dari rumah kakek saya sehingga lama kelamaan saya meminjam kaset yang lainnya. Pada akhirnya saya lama kelamaan mengenal Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin dan sebagainya.
Ketika saya membaca buku ini entah kenapa saya langsung membayangkan Seiji Ozawa seperti berada di posisi Chiaki salah satu tokoh anime/Manga Nodame Cantabile. Dimana ia dituntut menjadi seorang konduktor yang tidak bisa egois memikirikan diri sendiri karena setiap anggota orchestra memiliki kemampuan yang berbeda-beda. Ingat kan kejadian ia memimpin Orkestra kelas A dan Kelas S? Gara-gara saya sangat menyukai musik klasik dan Nodame Cantabile sampai sekarang lagu-lagu klasik yang ditampilkan di anime/doramanya masih saya simpan di playlist handphone/computer. Terdengar freak? Bahkan kalau kalian tahu lagu Johan Pachelbell yang berjudul Canon in D saya sampai mengoleksi beberapa versinya mulai dari Bond, Jerry dan yang lainnya. Jadi jangan heran ketika saya membaca komik tentang musik klasik dan instrumentnya lalu sampe dicari judul lagunya dan disimpan. contoh hal ini terjadi ketika saya membaca Oshaberi Na Amadeus by takeuchi Masumi saya sampai penasaran lagunya Edgar yang Love Letter. Selain itu ketika saya menonton anime La Corda D'oro saya mencari satu persatu lagu yang dimainkan di animenya. Makanya saya bertanya-tanya seperti apakah novel ini O_o
Kalau kalian penasaran dengan novel ini silakan bisa dicoba untuk dibaca ;)
I read in English but the review will be written in Indonesian Languange
3,2 dari 5 bintang!
Saya sangat penasaran dengan buku ini ketika melihat teman saya membacanya dan buku ini sudah terpajang rapi di salah satu toko buku. Makin penasaran lagi karena saya mempunyai feeling buku ini akan bercerita tentang Musik Klasik
Benar tebakan saya buku ini menceritakan tentang Musik Klasik! Percakapan antara Haruki Murakami dan Seiji Ozawa dari awal hingga akhir hanya berkutat tentang Musik Klasik, Beethoven, Opera, Konduktor dan Mahler. Saya sempat merasa bosan diawal-awal karena mereka menganalisis musik klasik sampai sedetil itu!! (Bagian pembukaan terasa sendu ya, di part sini terasa grande atau ada perasaan yang meluap-luap yang ingin ditampilkan disini). Saya bahkan salut sekali dengan pengetahuan Haruki Murakami yang bisa membedakan bahwa ada perbedaan karya Mahler yang dimainkan oleh Seiji Ozawa dari era tahun 60an, 70an dan 80an dengan komposisi lagu yang sama padahal >__<
Selain itu saya bisa menangkap bahwa Seiji Ozawa sangat mengagumi dan mencintai karya dari Gustav Mahler karena tingkat keindahan dan kesulitannya yang luar biasa. Komposisi karyanya yang terlihat mudah ketika dibaca tetapi membutuhkan pemahaman yang lebih dalam ketika ia harus mempresentasikan sebagai konduktor atau pemimpin suatu orchestra.
Saya tertarik membaca buku ini karena saya termasuk pecinta musik klasik. Jangan dibandingkan dengan Haruki Murakami ya yang sudah tarafnya penikmat musik klasik dan memiliki berkeping-keping koleksi piringan hitam ya.>__< Saya mengingat musik klasik yang saya suka pertama kali berjudul "Air" from Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 yang berhasil saya pinjam dari rumah kakek saya sehingga lama kelamaan saya meminjam kaset yang lainnya. Pada akhirnya saya lama kelamaan mengenal Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin dan sebagainya.
Ketika saya membaca buku ini entah kenapa saya langsung membayangkan Seiji Ozawa seperti berada di posisi Chiaki salah satu tokoh anime/Manga Nodame Cantabile. Dimana ia dituntut menjadi seorang konduktor yang tidak bisa egois memikirikan diri sendiri karena setiap anggota orchestra memiliki kemampuan yang berbeda-beda. Ingat kan kejadian ia memimpin Orkestra kelas A dan Kelas S? Gara-gara saya sangat menyukai musik klasik dan Nodame Cantabile sampai sekarang lagu-lagu klasik yang ditampilkan di anime/doramanya masih saya simpan di playlist handphone/computer. Terdengar freak? Bahkan kalau kalian tahu lagu Johan Pachelbell yang berjudul Canon in D saya sampai mengoleksi beberapa versinya mulai dari Bond, Jerry dan yang lainnya. Jadi jangan heran ketika saya membaca komik tentang musik klasik dan instrumentnya lalu sampe dicari judul lagunya dan disimpan. contoh hal ini terjadi ketika saya membaca Oshaberi Na Amadeus by takeuchi Masumi saya sampai penasaran lagunya Edgar yang Love Letter. Selain itu ketika saya menonton anime La Corda D'oro saya mencari satu persatu lagu yang dimainkan di animenya. Makanya saya bertanya-tanya seperti apakah novel ini O_o
Kalau kalian penasaran dengan novel ini silakan bisa dicoba untuk dibaca ;)
December 29, 2017
While reading this book, I felt as though I’d found the opening to that "secret room" as described in this book by the world renowned master of conducting Seiji Ozawa. Through the words and interactions between the reporter, a long-term classical-music aficionado with no formal education in music, and Ozawa himself who was the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years, I saw vividly, conversations between me and my father. My father was a veteran in the art of composition, while I immersed myself into the journey of a conductor as well as a concert pianist. "Why did you choose composition?" I would always ask him. His reply was always different, but one that stuck with me forever was "Why do you think you chose conducting and piano?" I adored the stage, and all it's beauty of the exposé of one's hard work, and I could not understand where father drew joy out of sitting in a room for 10 hours a day writing. But at the same time, he could not understand the reasons I would sit at the piano drilling my way through practices and etudes hours at a time, ripping open my layers of callouses. As a result, this created a flow of thoughts as well as a kind of perceptive translation at work between us. One of this book’s central pleasures is that to me, it was an encouragement to level with someone who stood on top of me in the industry. It helped me better understand that everything we do as performers, composers, musicologists, is for serving the people around us, bringing them to the understanding of our art, and above all, to use and music as the great we force that binds all of us together. In two different recordings of Ozawa's Mahler's first symphony, the reporter says one is “like making a leisurely tour in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz”, and that the second is “like zipping around in a sports car with a nice stick shift". One can conjure such descriptions that can provoke Ozawa’s inner dissent, even irritation towards his otherworldly and unprofessional approach to music. It’s a testament to how well the reporter has listened to the music that he loves and that his avowals prompt the conductor to respond with a start to discussion instead with infuriation. I've lost track of how many times the novelist’s ideas led to Ozawa replying, “Hmm, you’re right”, or “That’s absolutely true” and “I’m enjoying talking to you about music like this because your perspective is so different from mine, and it’s that difference [between us] that has been making it a learning experience for me, something fresh and unexpected.” As a music lover and musician myself, I remained captivated by Mr. Ozawa's each and every word, but yet, even dedicated fans and admirers of Murukami's works could lose interest while reading about tempo changes in the Toronto, Boston and Saito Kinen orchestras’ performances of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Once again, it's the things we all understand as a whole that brings us together, not the things that we as individuals invest our lives in specifically.
June 16, 2021
“Cuando estudio música me concentro en las partituras. No sé si será por eso, pero lo cierto es que no le doy demasiadas vueltas a otras cuestiones. Solo pienso en la música tal cual es. Nada más. Como si confiase ciegamente en lo que hay entre la música y yo.”
Ha sido una lectura muy amena y entretenida que he disfrutado mucho. Una serie de entrevistas cargadas de emoción e impregnadas de una pasión incondicional por parte de Ozawa como director de orquesta, y de Murakami como fiel amante de la música.
En este libro nos encontramos a un Murakami inexperto en el terreno técnico de la música clásica, pero que aun así se desenvuelve muy bien. Esperaba que el jazz tuviese más relevancia en el libro, y aunque se hace referencia a él en algún que otro momento, el tema principal de las entrevistas es la música clásica.
Aunque se habla mucho de la parte técnica de la música, y eso puede asustar, debo decir que Ozawa explica los conceptos de manera muy sencilla, lo que hace que cualquier persona pueda disfrutar de este libro sin necesidad de tener conocimientos avanzados sobre música.
A rasgos generales, es una lectura muy ligera, ideal para desconectar de lecturas densas e imprescindible para todo fan de Murakami. En estas entrevistas veremos reflejada la pasión del autor por la música y lo que esta representa para él, así como un entrañable Seiji Ozawa que nos deleitará con su gran habilidad como director y con muchas anécdotas y curiosidades que harán que nos riamos y emocionemos a partes iguales.
Valoración: 4/5.
Ha sido una lectura muy amena y entretenida que he disfrutado mucho. Una serie de entrevistas cargadas de emoción e impregnadas de una pasión incondicional por parte de Ozawa como director de orquesta, y de Murakami como fiel amante de la música.
En este libro nos encontramos a un Murakami inexperto en el terreno técnico de la música clásica, pero que aun así se desenvuelve muy bien. Esperaba que el jazz tuviese más relevancia en el libro, y aunque se hace referencia a él en algún que otro momento, el tema principal de las entrevistas es la música clásica.
Aunque se habla mucho de la parte técnica de la música, y eso puede asustar, debo decir que Ozawa explica los conceptos de manera muy sencilla, lo que hace que cualquier persona pueda disfrutar de este libro sin necesidad de tener conocimientos avanzados sobre música.
A rasgos generales, es una lectura muy ligera, ideal para desconectar de lecturas densas e imprescindible para todo fan de Murakami. En estas entrevistas veremos reflejada la pasión del autor por la música y lo que esta representa para él, así como un entrañable Seiji Ozawa que nos deleitará con su gran habilidad como director y con muchas anécdotas y curiosidades que harán que nos riamos y emocionemos a partes iguales.
Valoración: 4/5.
January 30, 2018
I find conversations a delight to read. This one is largely about the art of conducting and musical performance, with insights into why performances vary, and plenty of dishy gossip about major conductors of the 20th-century. While many technical details were beyond me (I am not a musician) the book did open a small window into the mind of a conductor and the mysterious communication between conductor and orchestra. Some fascinating parallels can be seen between conducting and novel-writing, and between listening to difficult music and reading difficult fiction. E.g.,
Finally, this inspired me to revisit some favorite symphonies (like Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique) and to perhaps finally read Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise.
Ozawa:[...] Mahler's music looks hard at first sight, and it really is hard, but if you read it closely and deeply, with feeling, it's not such confusing and inscrutable music after all. It's got all these layers piled one on top of another, and lots of different elements emerging at the same time, so in effect it [only]sounds complicated.Murakami instigated the conversations, which took place over several sessions while Ozawa was recovering from cancer treatments, and Murakami comes across as a considerate interlocutor and easygoing enthusiast (he calls himself a dilettante but he is extremely knowledgeable).
Finally, this inspired me to revisit some favorite symphonies (like Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique) and to perhaps finally read Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise.
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