Name: Absolutely on Music
Rating: 3.6 (10 reviews)
ISBN: 9781473520158

Seiji Ozawa

Haruki Murakami

An unprecedented glimpse into the minds of two maestros. Haruki Murakami's passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and 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 about their shared interest. They discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more.

Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

Absolutely on Music

Nathan Griffin

If you are familiar with most or all of the pieces of music discussed in this book or have a working knowledge of / interest in conducting, you'll probably enjoy this. 

I usually find books about people who are completely dedicated to being at the top of a profession pretty fascinating and there were little morsels of these conversations that were really interesting, but everything just seemed to come back to talking about pieces of music which just was not interesting to me having little to no knowledge of those pieces ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In Absolutely on Music, internationally Haruki Murakami sits down with his friend Seiji Ozawa, the revered former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for a series of conversations on their shared passion: music. Over the course of two years, Murakami and Ozawa discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from Bartók to Mahler, and from pop-up orchestras to opera. They listen to and dissect recordings of some of their favorite performances, and Murakami questions Ozawa about his career conducting orchestras around the world. Culminating in Murakami’s ten-day visit to the banks of Lake Geneva to observe Ozawa’s retreat for young musicians, the book is interspersed with ruminations on record collecting, jazz clubs, orchestra halls, film scores, and much more. A deep reflection on the essential nature of both music and writing, Absolutely on Music is an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of two maestros.

Absolutely on Music Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

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