TEHRAN – “Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa” by Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa has been published in Persian.

Translated by Arash Esmaeili, the book has been published by the Mahoor publishing house in Tehran. 

The book covers a deeply personal, intimate conversation about music and writing between the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author and his close friend, the former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Murakami’s passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and from The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood to Franz Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage, the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. 

Now, in “Absolutely on Music”, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk, over a period of two years, about their shared interest. 

Transcribed from lengthy conversations about the nature of music and writing, here they discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more. 

Ultimately this book gives readers an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the two maestros. It is essential reading for book and music lovers everywhere.

Murakami is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as “easily accessible, yet profoundly complex.”

Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie” (after Rossini’s opera), “Bird as Prophet” (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as “The Prophet Bird”), and “The Bird-Catcher” (a character in Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute”). 

Some of his novels take their titles from songs: “Dance, Dance, Dance” (after The Dells’ song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), “Norwegian Wood” (after The Beatles’ song) and “South of the Border, West of the Sun” (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of “Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa” by Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa.

MMS/YAW