Seiji Ozawa was the first Asian conductor to rise to international stardom – not least being the first Japanese conductor to preside over Vienna’s New Year’s Concert. After his Koussivitzky Prize at Tanglewood, he honed his skills as assistant to Leonard Bernstein in New York and Herbert von Karajan in Berlin. His defining qualities have always been esprit at the rostrum, a deep respect for the works he conducts, precision in rehearsal and friendliness and modesty in deportment. For the first time, his complete recordings on Deutsche Grammophon are collected together in one set as a 50-CD limited edition original jacket collection. Out now.