China remembers Seiji Ozawa
OrchestrasBeijing has staged a concert in memory of Seiji Ozawa, who was born in China and did much to assist cultural relations with Japan and America.
Tuesday’s concert was conducted by Yu Lu, Ozawa’s student from age 19.
Ozawa’s daughter, Ozawa Seira, gave Yu her father’s score for Beethoven’s Symphony No.5, which he then conducted.
This is a remarkable moment, as Communist China rarely honors anyone Japanese, especially anyone from Ozawa’s generation, born in occupied China or otherwise.
The West is not so familiar with how horrendous the Japan military’s actions were towards China (and much of the rest of East and Southeast Asia) in the first four and half decades of the 20th Century.
Maestro Ozawa led the BSO at its pinnacle, when it had a wonderful concertmaster—maybe the most wonderful concertmaster.
If we bring back Seiji, can we bring back Joey?
It’s true. The Japanese army committed a lot of atrocities in China. Nevertheless, they didn’t kill as many Chinese as the China Communist party did. Let’s not forget that.
This kind of comments makes me sick. It’s like saying let’s not forget the Nazi was horrible but not as bad the Imperial Japanese army.
Some history for you sunshine, according to Steven Pinker’s “Better Angels.” Mao Zedong’s regime murdered 40 million Chinese. Playing your word game, would phrase it like this: Let’s not the Japanese Imperial was horrible, but much less horrible than the Chinese Communist Party.
1. World War II (20th century)- 55,000,000 dead
2. Mao Zedong (20th century)- 40,000,000 dead
3. Mongol Conquests (13th century)- 40,000,000 dead
4. An Lushan Revolt (8th century)- 36,000,000 dead
5. Fall of the Ming Dynasty (17th century)- 25,000,000 dead
6. Taiping Rebellion (19th century)- 20,000,000 dead
7. Annihilation of American Indians (15th– 19th centuries)- 20,000,000 dead
Josef Stalin (20th century)- 20,000,000 dead
Mideast Slave Trade (7th-19th centuries)- 19,000,000 dead
Atlantic Slave Trade (15th-19th centuries)- 18,000,000 dead
He was born in northeastern China to Japanese parents during the occupation.
Yu was a student of Ozawa? What a joke!