The worst thing ever that can happen to a pianist is a broken hand. The 15 year old Seiji was a Japanese wunderkind. No one played the works of Bach better than this boy. Unfortunately he had another passion. He loved Rugby games, and was one of the best in his High School Team. One day he had an accident on the lawn, spraining two fingers of his right hand. It soon was clear enough that he would never again be able to play the piano perfectly. Seiji regarded it as the end of his life. His teacher at the Toho Gakuen School of Music however didn't give up. He started teaching the student to conduct. Seiji turned out to be amazingly gifted. A decade after his sports accident, he competed at the International Conductors' Competition in France and won the first prize. Today, at 75, Seiji Ozawa is one of the most respected conductors in the world. Who knows where he would stand as a pianist.
Nearly all conductors have been playing the piano before (exception: some famous players of solo instruments (or singers) who – at the end of their original career - are able to carry over their publicity into a new activity). No other instrument can better develop polyphonic thinking and hearing, a main conductor´s specification.
ReplyDeleteErgo, first: Ozawa´s early piano-study was not for nothing. Secondly, Ozawa´s early beginning of conductor´s training (at high school!) was an advantage in competition.