This Blu-ray sampler with carefully selected-concerts accompanies Seiji Ozawa's impressive career over three decades.

Seiji Ozawa was not only Japan’s best-known conductor but also the founder of the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, which in 2015 was renamed the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.

Special feature included in this edition from Matsumoto: on the occasion of Maestro Ozawa’s 80th birthday, Martha Argerich and Matthias Goerne joined the orchestra to perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, op.80, plus a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ - a deeply emotional moment for the Maestro!

"To reunite with this musicians every year in Matsumoto and create outstanding music is very precious to me. It is a great pleasure for me to share this music, which could only be created here in Matsumoto, with many people" - Seiji Ozawa

Included in this sampler: the first Seiji Ozawa concert ever recorded in Europe, from 1989 with Maestro Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Akiyama conducting the Saito Kinen Orchestra at the Alter Oper Frankfurt.

The 2003 Waldbühne concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker was dedicated to George Gershwin. Supported by the Marcus Roberts Trio, conductor Seiji Ozawa presented An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue and the Concerto in F, turning the Waldbühne inta a vast, swinging jazz club.

The collaboration between Maestro Ozawa and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, with the members of the Berlin Philharmonic gave a very refreshing and energetic lively and beautiful performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto - a fitting tribute to the late Maestro von Karajan.

Contents:

Seiji Ozawa
- Kazuyoshi Akiyama
- Berliner Philharmoniker ∙ Saito Kinen Orchestra
- Martha Argerich ∙ Anne-Sophie Mutter ∙ Marcus Roberts Trio

Seiji Ozawa from the Alte Oper Frankfurt
- Seiji Ozawa ∙ Kazuyoshi Akiyama ∙ Saito Kinen Orchestra
Including Franz Schubert - Symphony no.5 in B flat major, D485, conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Recorded live at Alte Oper Frankfurt, 1989

A Russian Night: Waldbühne 1993
- Seiji Ozawa ∙ Berliner Philharmoniker
Recorded live at Waldbühne Berlin, 1993

A Gershwin Night: Waldbühne 2003
- Seiji Ozawa ∙ Berliner Philharmoniker ∙ ∙
Recorded live at Waldbühne Berlin, 2003

Karajan Memorial Concert 2008
- Seiji Ozawa ∙ Berliner Philharmoniker ∙ Anne-Sophie Mutter
Recorded live at The Golden Hall of Musikverein Vienna, 2008

Seiji Ozawa at the Matsumoto Festival
- Seiji Ozawa ∙ Saito Kinen Orchestra ∙ Martha Argerich