Conductors: The Anguish of Being Young & Thin & Japanese

From the steep stone bleachers of Manhattan’s Lewisohn Stadium, the skinny conductor who walked onto the outdoor stage last week seemed miles away. But once he began conducting, Seiji Ozawa caught every eye. As exhilarating as the final accelerando of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony were the dancelike body movements with which Ozawa conducted it. His expressive left hand seemed everywhere, searching out the lyrical underpinnings of Borodin’s Second. He found them, and New York critics unanimously agreed that musically little Seiji was a giant in the making.

Ozawa, 27, is already a conductor honored in many lands, but not in his own. He left Japan four years ago, successively won first place (and 100,000 francs) in the Concours International de Jeunes Chefs d’Orchestre, the Koussevitzky Memorial Scholarship for the best young conductor at Tanglewood, and a place at the side of Leonard Bernstein as an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic.

Only in Tokyo did the rising young conductor fall flat. He returned there between Western triumphs last year, was signed by Japan’s prestigious NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corp.) Orchestra to a six-month, $10,000 contract. Proudly, he got up on the podium to display the sweeping conducting technique reminiscent of Bernstein. But his imported hip-swinging was wasted on the musicians of the NHK. For 36 years they had served Germanic masters, who stylistically frown on conducting exertions more noticeable than an occasional swing of the index finger. The sight of the flailing young conductor reminded a critic of “a samurai warrior leading his men to battle.” Soon the NHK ranks were brewing a mutiny. When the musicians said “Ozawa’s full of air and showmanship, but little that’s real art,” he demanded apologies. Instead, he got fired. Refusing to believe his bad luck, Ozawa went to the concert hall anyway and, alone and forlorn, awaited his orchestra. It never turned up.

Ever since, poor Seiji has believed that all 5 ft. 6 in. and 125 Ibs. of him is somehow not enough to command respect on a podium. He downed quarts of beer every day in an effort to build a stocky German silhouette, to no avail. “It would be ideal to be older and German,” he mused. “But can I help being young and thin and Japanese?”

New York has been willing to overlook his silhouette. The Philharmonic has signed Ozawa as an assistant conductor for a month-long tour of the U.S. Before heading for the Hollywood Bowl next month, he has a guest slot to fill conducting the orchestra of The Hague. In the fall, Ozawa will be one of the first guest conductors of the Montreal Symphony at the new Place des Arts. Before each concert he eats rice and Japanese vegetables, lest he lose weight and look even younger. “On your beefsteak I lose my appetite,” he worries. “I would grow thinner.”