I heard that Seiji Ozawa passed away in February 2024. He is one of the great conductors in the world and is very well known all over the world. I am not familiar with classical music, although I like listening to it. Nevertheless, even I know his name and have seen him many times on TV. I had often seen him conduct an orchestra, but sometimes, I had seen him being interviewed.
He was so famous, but I had never been to his concerts and had no chance to see him in person in official places like a concert hall. Nevertheless, I had a chance to see him in person only once. It was not in an official place but in a private space that I saw him.
When I lived in the Netherlands, I used to go to the Hotel Okura in Amsterdam to shop for a Japanese newspaper and books in the first basement. The shop was very small and usually had only a few shoppers, mainly Japanese living in the country. But when I was there one day, it had a different atmosphere that I had never felt there. I saw four or five Japanese there and one of them, a man with grey hair, was only walking around the shop to buy a Japanese newspaper or book while the other three or four, who seemed to be his assistants or security guards, were always by his side. Then, suddenly, the grey-haired man went over to one of the shop clerks and asked about something. But the clerk did not get his point and failed to reply to him clearly. Then, he seemed to be frustrated and walked out of the shop at once, upsetting his assistants and security guards so much that they rushed to follow him. And one of his assistants talked with him to try to calm him down.
On the other hand, the clerk was also very upset and tried to find out what was wrong with his service to him. Then, one of the shoppers told him that the grey-haired man was Seiji Ozawa, one of the superconductors. It was the first and last time I saw him in person. May his soul rest in peace.

小澤征爾さんが2024年2月に亡くなりました。世界で最も偉大な指揮者の一人であり、世界中でとてもよく知られている方でした。ボクは、クラシック音楽を聴くのは好きですが、あまり詳しくありません。それでも、小澤さんの名前は知っているし、テレビで何度も見たことがあります。オーケストラを指揮している姿もよく見たし、インタビューを受けている姿も時々見ました。
それほど有名ですが、小澤さんのコンサートに行ったことはなく、コンサートホールのような公式の場で直接見る機会もありませんでした。それでも、一度だけ小澤さんをじかに見る機会がありました。オフィシャルな場所ではなく、プライベートな空間でお会いしたのです。
オランダに住んでいた頃、アムステルダムのホテルオークラの地下1階でよく日本の新聞や本を買っていました。その店はとても小さく、普段は、オランダに住んでいる日本人買い物客が数人いる程度でした。でもある日、その店に行くと、今まで感じたことのない異様な雰囲気が漂っていました。4、5人の日本人がいて、そのうちの白髪の男性が日本の新聞や本を買うために店内を歩き回っていました。残りの人は、彼の付き人か警備員らしき人で、いつも彼のそばにいました。すると突然、その白髪の男性が店員の一人のところに行き、何かを尋ねました。しかし、その店員は彼の言いたいことを理解できず、はっきりと答えられませんでした。すると、その男性は苛立った様子で一目散に店から出て行きました。付き人と警備員は慌てふためき、その男性の後を追いました。そして、付き人の一人が男性を落ち着かせようと話しかけていました。
一方、店員も途方に暮れ、自分の応対のどこが悪かったのかと振り返っていました。すると買い物客の一人が店員に、あの白髪の男性は、超一流の指揮者の小澤征爾さんだと教えてくれました。小澤さんを直に見たのはこれが最初で最後でした。小澤さんのご冥福をお祈りいたします。