Klaus Tennstedt: Possessed by Music

Delve into the captivating biography of Klaus Tennstedt (1926-1998), one of the most fascinating conductors of his time. Even legends like Herbert von Karajan and Carlos Kleiber admired his extraordinary musical talent. Kleiber waxed lyrical: “At last, someone to admire.”

This book offers a new perspective on the life of Klaus Tennstedt and reveals previously unknown events. Did you know that as a child he had to practise the violin and piano for two hours a day, and as a teenager for up to five hours? Or that as a young man he secretly fled East Germany with his girlfriend Anita, later to marry and become a father, far away from his roots? The violin was always at his side.

The journey from Germany's youngest concertmaster to world-famous conductor was rocky – marked by political difficulties in the GDR and adventurous escape attempts. Nevertheless, he managed to achieve a breakthrough in the West. Soon he was conducting the world's most renowned orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, the New York and London Philharmonics and the Berlin Philharmonic (the latter over two dozen times). He became a superstar in the USA and England, and was worshipped like a god in Japan.

This eagerly awaited biography offers music lovers and Tennstedt fans an unusual insight into the life of this most underrated conductor of our time.

“There is no one today
who has a fraction of his magnetism.”
Norman Lebrecht, journalist and best-selling author,
about Tennstedt

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