Book Review — Absolutely on Music by Haruki Murakami

Saturday 01, July 2023

Absolutely on Music is a series of interviews between Haruki Murakami and famed conductor Seiji Ozawa, with a few interludes from Murakami interspersed. The interviews roughly focus on a number of recorded performances selected by Murakami to listen to with Ozawa as they discuss both the performance and personal stories about soloists, music halls, certain orchestras, and other anecdotes generally related to the topic. At the time the book was being written, Seiji Ozawa was recovering from major surgery and mostly unable to perform. Several times he remarks how he has never reflected on everything to the extent that the interviews were making him, and his appreciation to recall such fond memories.

The recordings being discussed are stated up front and make following along a joy, although I definitely found myself reading faster than the music. At any rate, it gave me homework to do everyday when I wasn’t reading.

Murakami and Ozawa had a lot to say on Mahler, from Ozawa’s time under the tutalage of Leonard Bernstein, through his time with the Boston Symphony, and into the present. They reference a recording Ozawa did with the Saito Kinen Orchestra of Mahler’s first symphony, Titan, and it has very quickly become my favorite performance of the piece. For anyone interested, you can find it here.

This was a very light, enjoyable book. Some parts could be a bit sad, like the number of people Ozawa spoke affectionately about who ended up passing; but the overall mood was one of happy nostalgia and the pursuit of good music.