Tennstedt, Klaus

▪ 1999

      German conductor (b. June 6, 1926, Merseburg, Ger.—d. Jan. 11, 1998, Kiel, Ger.), was known for uncommonly expressive performances of the Romantic and Postromantic repertory. Tennstedt attended the Leipzig (Ger.) Conservatory, where he studied violin, piano, and theory. Though he originally wanted to become a violinist like his father, Tennstedt was thwarted by a small growth on his left hand. He became a singing coach and later a conductor at the Halle Municipal Theatre, which in turn led to appointments in Germany at the opera in Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1954, the Dresden Opera (1958-62), and the Schwerin Orchestra (1962-70). In 1971 his visa was stamped in such a way that Tennstedt was able to defect from East Germany to Stockholm. One year later he was appointed general music director of the Kiel Opera in West Germany. Tennstedt's international career took off in 1974 when the manager of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra heard him conduct Anton Bruckner's Seventh Symphony and promptly invited Tennstedt to conduct an all-Beethoven concert in Toronto. That same year Tennstedt conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra; after rehearsing Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, the orchestra spontaneously broke into applause during a coffee break. He soon conducted orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris. In 1976 Tennstedt began his long association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 1983 he became the ensemble's principal conductor. He conducted a substantial portion of the traditional repertory and was particularly noted for his treatment of Gustav Mahler and Bruckner. He was often praised for his expressive warmth and urgency, though some criticized him for being "inexact." Though a large and imposing figure, Tennstedt was shy and somewhat reluctant to be in the limelight. In 1985 he was diagnosed with cancer, and, having collapsed during a rehearsal in 1987, he relinquished his post at the London Philharmonic. In 1994 Tennstedt received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford and made his last public appearance at the university's orchestral rehearsal.

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