Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday: memories and reflections of a great conductor 

Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday on November 22, 2021. In an intimate interview with DW Classical Music, Nagano looks back at his life’s work and talks about topics close to his heart as well as some of the people who were important to him: Why Leonard Bernstein had a decisive influence on him; how he met Frank Zappa and learned to play his classical compositions; how he worked with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) many times and remains fascinated to this day by the sound of this unique orchestra. He also lets us in on the secret to his close working relationship with his wife, pianist Mari Kodama.
One of the highlights of Nagano’s career is the Classical Masterpieces project, which he completed in 2006 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Deutsche Welle. To this day, Nagano is delighted by the visionary character of this unique production and points out its historical value.
And the great conductor also offers some quirky anecdotes, for example about his trip to Japan in 1999, where US-born Nagano had to conduct a Japanese choir - but could only communicate in English or German.
With this video DW Classical Music congratulates Kent Nagano on his 70th birthday - we hope you can join us!
Everything at a glance:
(00:00) Intro
(02:52) Influence of Leonard Bernstein
(04:31) Collaboration with Frank Zappa
(08:22) Cooperation with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
(09:31) Japan trip with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
(12:11) The Classical Masterpieces project
(14:16) The modern aspects of Brahms, Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
(16:52) Premiere of Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier, Piano Concerto Terra Nostra, Berlin Philharmonie, 2021
(18:44) Working with his wife, Mari Kodama
By the way, the music starting at 03:58 is not the overture from the opéra comique 'Béatrice et Bénédict' but the orchestral suite from 'Le bourgeois gentilhomme' by Richard Strauss. Sorry for the confusion!
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