Hiroyuki Iwaki, who conducted major orchestras across Europe and the United States, died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital on Tuesday at age 73, his agency said.
Iwaki had been hospitalised for treatment of an unspecified illness since late May, said Yuko Isaka of May Corporation.
Born in Tokyo in 1932, Iwaki made his conducting debut in 1956 with the NHK Symphony Orchestra after graduating from the music department of the prestigious Tokyo University of Fine Arts.
His first foray abroad was in 1962, leading the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, although he later made his mark elsewhere in Europe and the US conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Iwaki became the permanent conductor for the NHK orchestra in 1969, and toured with the ensemble in China, South Asia, Russia, South America, the US, Australia and Europe.
In 1987, the French government awarded Iwaki the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letter, and he went on to found Japan’s only permanent professional chamber orchestra, the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, in 1988.
On New Year’s Eve 2004 in Tokyo, Iwaki conducted performances of all nine symphonies written by Ludwig van Beethoven — a feat that took nine hours to complete, and one he repeated the following year.
Iwaki underwent nearly 30 operations in recent years for a number of illnesses including lung and pharynx cancer, the national Asashi newspaper said in its evening edition. Yet despite being confined to a wheelchair, Iwaki was still conducting in April this year.
Iwaki is survived by his wife, Kaori. — Sapa-AP