[Music] A Miraculous Collaboration: Junko Onishi x Seiji Ozawa x Saito Kinen - Rhapsody in Blue - After Watching

Just seeing these three names together tells you that this is no ordinary collaboration. A world-class jazz pianist, a conductor, and an orchestra performing 'Rhapsody in Blue'... In 2013, a miraculous collaboration took place that transcended the boundaries between jazz and classical music.
Today, I was surprised to find a video of this legendary night on YouTube, so even though it's a bit late, I would like to introduce it to you all.

Junko Onishi had been active internationally since the 1990s, but in the 2000s, she suddenly entered a long period of hiatus and retirement. She officially announced her 'retirement' in 2012 and had stopped her musical activities for a time.

Seiji Ozawa presided over the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto (now the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival) and sought collaborations with various genres and performers through the music festival.

The Saito Kinen Orchestra was established to commemorate Ozawa's mentor, Hideo Saito, and is known as a music festival that maintains a flexible attitude toward new endeavors in addition to traditional classical repertoire.

In 2013, a project was launched to perform Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' as the finale of the festival.
Junko Onishi, who had previously retired, was chosen as the soloist, and both Ozawa and Haruki Murakami were involved in the efforts to bring her to the stage.
Through these circumstances, a rare opportunity was realized: for the performance of 'Rhapsody in Blue,' the retired Junko Onishi returned for one night only to perform with the Saito Kinen Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

Why was 'Rhapsody in Blue' chosen as the piece? It is a symbolic work that crosses the boundary between classical and jazz, and the festival organizers wanted to realize a cross-genre collaboration through this piece.

'Rhapsody in Blue' is a work that premiered in 1924 and is a landmark in American music history, boldly fusing elements of classical and jazz. As symbolized by the opening clarinet glissando, it is free and spirited, yet its structure is extremely precise. Constantly moving between the lines of improvisation and written music, this piece can be said to have been the ideal vessel for establishing a dialogue that transcends genres.

When I actually watched it, the performance was far beyond my imagination. Junko Onishi's piano went head-to-head with the orchestra while maintaining jazz phrasing, and Seiji Ozawa and Saito Kinen never treated jazz as a 'foreign object,' but rather wrapped the entire music in a grand breath...
What remained after listening was not so much an emotion that transcended genres, but a deep sense of satisfaction with the intensity of the music itself.
It made me realize once again that a miraculous collaboration is not a coincidence, but the result of accumulated inevitabilities.
It has not been released as a recording, so if you'd like, please watch it on YouTube while it's still available.