Biography
Kurt Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland) to Jewish parents. After early work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he left for the Soviet Union in 1936, where he worked with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. From 1942 to 1960, he was joint principal conductor with Yevgeny Mravinsky of the Leningrad Philharmonic. As a German refugee with a broad cultural outlook, he grew very close to Dmitri Shostakovich.
Sanderling was a favorite of musicians world over. His easy going conducting manner proved he could get the finest results with orchestras of much lesser calibre. His Brahms and Sibelius cycles are held in highest critical acclaim. Listeners may note a warmth of approach more akin to old world conductors rather than the current "jet-set" style modern interpreters.
He returned to East Germany where he led the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and Dresden Staatskapelle. He made his British debut in 1970. He later became particularly associated with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London starting in January 1980, with a series of performances of the complete Beethoven symphonies at Wembley. The Philharmonia later appointed Sanderling their Conductor Emeritus. He was also Emeritus Conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.
Sanderling had conducted several major symphony orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who had asked Sanderling to be the permanent conductor of the orchestra, however, Sanderling's commitments made him refuse the offer. Martin Bernheimer praised Sanderling's conducting skills. He announced his retirement from conducting in 2002.
In September 2002, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
His recordings include sets of the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the piano concertos with pianist Mitsuko Uchida, Nos. 3, 4 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Nos. 1, 2 and 5 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was among the first conductors to perform and record Deryck Cooke's completion of Gustav Mahler's 10th symphony, which his friend Berthold Goldschmidt had premiered.
Sanderling died on 17 September 2011, two days before his 99th birthday in Berlin.
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