At last, a life of Klaus Tennstedt

At last, a life of Klaus Tennstedt

News

norman lebrecht

April 02, 2023

The German researcher and filmmaker Georg Wübbolt, renowned for biopics of Karajan, Bernstein and Solti, has been trying for years to interest brodcasters and publishers in the story of klaus Tennstedt, a conductor many regarded as the most naturally gifted of all.

Georg has just uploaded his book onto Amazon, and I can’t wait to read and report on it.

Tennstedt’s life in East Germany, his escape to the West and his overnight acclamation are the stuff of legend. Karajan called him ‘the last of the true Kapellmeisters.’ Carlos Kleiber said: ‘Finally, a conductor to admire.’ Kurt Masur said: ‘I wanted to be like him.’

Comments

  • Phok says:

    Warming: do not download at the present time from Amazon. Text is garbled with no options to alter size or font

  • MMcGrath says:

    I’m with you. It’s long-awaited and now on my reading list.

  • Jackson says:

    Is being referred to as a Kapellmeister really a compliment?

  • Novagerio says:

    Kurt even tried to get Klaus to stop chainsmoking – unsuccessfully of course.
    I guess they were more than just chess pals.

    • Sisko24 says:

      Yes, I believe so. I remember Masur saying the reason he wouldn’t do the Mahler 8 after he heard Tennstedt’s version is he believed that to be ‘the one’….or words to that effect.

  • Max Raimi says:

    I had the privilege to play under him a few times late in his career and early in mine. A first rate human being and certainly among the two or three most inspiring conductors I have ever encountered.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      This is what we have heard from British musicians about Tennstedt. A biographical study is long overdue and I’m looking forward to getting this one.

      I presented a 90 minute program to our community group about Tennstedt about 6 years ago and nobody had heard of him!

  • Alank says:

    On my reading list as well. I shall never forget his Mahler 1 and 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Or my disappointment when he got sick and failed to conduct Mahler 7 with Philly in DC way back in 1977. William Smith did a fine job, but no Tennstedt was he.

    • Sol L Siegel says:

      Tennstedt scheduled Mahler 7 and then cancelled (with the overworked Smith filling in) twice before finally leading it. When he finally did, in 1987, it was for the ages.

      • Robin Mitchell-Boyask says:

        Ah, the year before I arrived in Philadelphia! In 1977 a Cleveland performance of the same piece changed my life; after that I heard him with that group doing Bruckner 4 and 8. Rumor was he was the first choice after Maazel left. A Philadelphia performance of the 6th after his hip surgery must be one of the two or three greatest musical experiences of my life.

        Currently Warner is shamefully neglecting his EMI recordings.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Does anybody know if this is an English translation which is available? And whether the paperback is just photocopies of the hard-cover, which is something Amazon regularly does and the results are woeful. I don’t want electronic books.

    • Georg Wübbolt says:

      Hallo Sue, This is the English translation of my German original. (I am the author G.W.) I carefully followed the whole translation process. The paperback is not photocopies, it´s the same content with 130 photos of the same quality in both editions. I checked. Best, Georg

      • Don Ciccio says:

        Thanks for pointing this out. I did look at Amazon and did a preview; I will definitely buy.

        But I would have a suggestion for the second edition: perhaps to include the list of concerts or at least his repertoire. As far as I could read from the previews, this was not included. If it is, then my apologies.

        Thank you.

      • Phok says:

        The text might be yours, but letters are overlapping. Have you actually checked, George?

  • Angela Giblin says:

    How excellent that a biography is now available. I was a member of the opera ensemble in Kiel just after Tennstedt had departed for greater things. The awe and love with which those who knew him and had worked with him, regarded him, was unmistakeable.

  • Robin Mitchell-Boyask says:

    Now that I think of it, can someone please write a biography of Claudio Abbado?

    • Henry williams says:

      He was one of the best conductors. Also his
      Family hid a young child during the german
      Occupation

  • Simon says:

    Klaus Tennstedt… ah, they don’t make them like him any more. In fact, they never did. A total one off. And somewhat of an obsession of mine. Having observed him in many concerts, he appeared to have next to no baton technique at all in the standard sense. What he did do however was to draw the shape of the music and communicate its essence, which – once used to this – orchestras fed off it. I recall one conductor (big profile), sitting next to me and he muttered to his wife, “he’s not doing anything but they play for him.” Witness the wonderful video of his Mahler 1 with Chicago SO – surely amongst the greatest live accounts. Or Mahler 6, which Tennstedt called the hardest of all Mahler symphonies – now there is an experience that takes you to the heart of the matter. I tend to go for his live accounts as they are caught in the white heat of the moment, rather than the tamer, spliced together studio versions. You have to listen to musicians whilst they are here. I mean, how can Yannick and the Dud Dude possibly compare? Yes, their own qualities, to be sure, but…

  • Doc Martin says:

    Has anyone translated the biography of Gunter Wand “So und nichts anders” Hoffmann & Campe pub I have the German edition a massive tome, I translate a page a day slowly.

    His last interview 2001.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMjkLKKa7M

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