Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday: memories and reflections of a great conductor

Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday on November 22, 2021. In an intimate interview with DW Classical Music, Nagano looks back at his life’s work and talks about topics close to his heart as well as some of the people who were important to him: Why Leonard Bernstein had a decisive influence on him; how he met Frank Zappa and learned to play his classical compositions; how he worked with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) many times and remains fascinated to this day by the sound of this unique orchestra. He also lets us in on the secret to his close working relationship with his wife, pianist Mari Kodama. One of the highlights of Nagano’s career is the Classical Masterpieces project, which he completed in 2006 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Deutsche Welle. To this day, Nagano is delighted by the visionary character of this unique production and points out its historical value. And the great conductor also offers some quirky anecdotes, for example about his trip to Japan in