Thomas Sanderling
EUR | SAm | Sundry
Full Biography
Thomas Sanderling grew up in St Petersburg, where his father, the celebrated conductor Kurt Sanderling, was permanent conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He graduated from the Music School of the Leningrad Conservatory and went on to study conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in East Berlin, becoming Music Director of the Halle Opera at 24 years old. By his mid-twenties he was conducting in all East Germany's principal orchestras and opera houses, including the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Leipzig Gewandhaus and won the Berlin Critic's Prize for his opera performances at the Komische Oper Berlin. His CD of Shostakovich's Michelangelo Suite (premiere recording) directly lead to his becoming assistant to both Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. In the early 1980s he became permanent guest conductor of the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter Den Linden, which led to his successful debut at the Wiener Staatsoper, conducting Die Zauberflöte. Immediately afterwards the Wiener Staatsoper invited him to conduct Le Nozze di Figaro - the first performance after the death of the great Karl Böhm. He has won many prizes, competitions and is particularly renowned for the German, Russian and French orchestral repertory.


Among the orchestras he has conducted are:

BBC Scottish; Baltimore Symphony; Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra; Bergen Philharmonic; Bournemouth Symphony; Czech Philharmonic; Dallas Symphony; Dresden Staatskapelle; Dresden Philharmonic; Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig; Halle Orchestra UK; Helsinki Philharmonic; Konzerthausorchester Berlin: London Philharmonic; Montreal Symphony; NDR Hamburg Symphony Orchestra; Oslo Philharmonic; Philharmonia Orchestra; Pittsburg Symphony; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Royal Philharmonic; Radio Philharmonic Hilversum; Royal Stockholm; St Petersburg Philharmonic; Tchaikowsky Radio Symphony, Moscow; Vancouver Symphony; WDR Symphony Cologne.
He is also a regular guest conductor of radio orchestras in Germany as well as principal guest conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.
Further, the Osaka Symphony awarded him the title of Music Director Laureate for his Lifetime. With this Orchestra he won the Grand Prix of the Osaka Critics twice in three years.


Shostakovich Premieres he has conducted:

He has enjoyed a close relationship with Shostakovich and his family for many years and still works in close collaboration with Irina Shostakovich. He originally met Dmitri Shostakovich whilst making his Moscow debut, conducting the State Orchestra of Russia, on the invitation of Evgeny Svetlanov, as a result of winning a conducting competition in East Germany. Greatly impressed, Shostakovich entrusted him with the translation into German of the texts of the 13th and 14th Symphonies and he conducted the German premieres of both works. He also conducted the world premiere recording of the Michelangelo Suite followed by a concert of the premiere of two British song cycles for which he was responsible for setting the original English text: Six Romances on Verses of British Poets and Anglo-American folk Songs, with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio in Munich, both recorded live and released on the Orfeo Label in 2012. At the instigation of Irina Shostakovich he made an Italian original version of the Michelangelo Suite, which is dedicated to her.


Shostakovich Premiers he has recorded (Deutsche Grammophon):

Two CD recordings with Shostakovich Premieres, which became The Editor's Choice in the September 2006 issue of the Gramophone in London, The Original Suite from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Eight Waltzes (Orchestration Boris Tishchenko), Verses of Captain Lebyadkin Op. 146, Satires {Pictures of the Past) Op. 100, Five Romances on Words from Krokodil Magazine Op. 121 (Orchestration Leonid Dessyatnikov), Preface to the Complete Edition of My Works, Op. 123 (Sergei Leiferkus and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra)

Opera Houses where he has conducted include:

Wiener Staatsoper; Deutsche Oper Unter den Linden; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Bayerische Staatsoper; Hamburgische Staatsoper; Komische Oper Berlin; Bolshoi Theater; Mariinsky Theater; Det Kongelige Teater Denmark; Finnish National Opera; Teatro La Fenice di Venezia; Opéra de Nice.

Recordings:
 
He has recorded for many companies including: Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical International, Naxos, BIS, Chandos; Audite, Berlin Classics.
 
For his recordings Thomas Sanderling received several prices including, the Cannes Classical Award for Mahler Symphony No. 6 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and for A. Magnards “Complete Symphonies”, the Salzburg Prize for the Complete Brahms Symphonies with Philhamonic Orchestra London, a Grammy Nomination for Kletzki´s Piano Concerto in D minor Op. 22 with Joseph Banowetz and several awards for Taneyevs “Complete Works for Orchestra”.
In his past seasons he conducted several first performances, especially the German first performance of M. Weinbergs 7. Symphony for String Orchestra and Cembalo as well as his monumental 21. Symphony.
Furthermore, as a designated Shostakovich expert and Co-Initiator of the International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society, he conducted members of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden at the final concert of the 8. International Shostakovich Days in Gohrisch, where he conducted first performances of Weinberg, Shostakovich himself (!) und Sofia Gubaidulina.

Future plans include concerts with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, with the National State Philharmonic in Budapest, the Radio Filharmonish Orkest at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow, a concert tour with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra to China and a special program of post war musical highlights at Brucknerhaus Linz.
As chief conductor of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling will conduct the orchestra in numerous concerts in Russia and abroad.

 2021/2022
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