The more lavish, coffee-table volume is " Symphony Hall : The First 100 Years, " which includes historical and architectural materials and tributes by people you would expect ( Seiji Ozawa, John Williams, Keith Lockhart, and Harry Ellis Dickson ), a few other important musicians ( Van Cliburn, John Harbison, and the senior member of the BSO, legendary tympanist Everett Firth ), and some figures you might not expect, such as George Plimpton, Stephen Jay Gould, Robert Pinsky, and John Updike.
12.
This is a celebration of Ozawa's 25 seasons as music director of the Boston Symphony, with tributes from several of his prominent friends, associates, and colleagues, including John Williams, Peter Serkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jessye Norman, Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Previn, whom you would expect to find; the BSO's legendary tympanist Vic Firth, a refreshing choice; and some genuinely surprising figures like James Taylor, William M . Bulger, and Bob Kraft . The most moving contribution comes from Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kenzaburo Oe, who describes Ozawa's electronically world-spanning performance of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the opening ceremonies of the Nagano Olympics, placing it in the context of the rising tide of Japan's new nationalism.
