Credits:

Seiji Ozawa

Description:

The greatest hit album by world-renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa (19352024), who passed away on February 6, 2024, to widespread regret, was his New Years Concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic. This landmark live performance, on January 1, 2002, marked the first time a Japanese conductor had taken the podium at the New Years Concert. The event was broadcast live worldwide and sparked widespread interest in Japan that extended far beyond the classical music scene. The CD sold over 1 million copies worldwide (over 800,000 in Japan alone), and the video sold over 100,000 copiesan unprecedented sales record for a classical recording. The program included the overture to *Die Fledermaus*, the waltzes *Viennese Character*, *An Artists Life*, and *The Blue Danube*, the polka-mazurka *The Dragonfly*, Perpetual Motion, and the Radetzky March. It also includes a rare piece by Josef Hermesberger, T