Thomas Sanderling: Conductor
Russian-born conductor Thomas Sanderling is closely associated with the music of Dmitry Shostakovich. He has conducted a mixture of orchestras worldwide, generally to critical acclaim, and made a number of successful recordings. He has developed an equally respected reputation in opera, particularly for performances in the most important operatic centers in Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia. Despite his identity with Shostakovich, his repertory is broad, encompassing Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Dvorak, as well as moderns like Karl Weigl and Americans Menotti, Barber, and Tobias Picker.
Sanderling was born in Leningrad on October 2, 1942. His father, conductor Kurt Sanderling, was forced to flee Germany in 1936. Young Thomas studied first at the Leningrad Conservatory, then at the Hochschule für Musik in East Berlin. His first important post came at 24, when he was appointed director of the Halle Opera. Throughout his early career, he centered his activity mostly in East Berlin, often leading orchestras in Dresden and Leipzig.
In the 1970s he developed a friendship with the declining Shostakovich, who presented Sanderling with scores to his Thirteenth and Fourteenth symphonies. Sanderling later led the German premieres of those controversial works.
After serving as guest conductor at the Berlin Staakskapelle (1978-1983), he began conducting in Western European opera houses, notably at the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Royal Danish Opera, and Finnish National Opera. Now he also began branching out in his orchestral activity, conducting orchestras throughout Europe and the United States.
In 1992 he was appointed music director of Japan’s Osaka Symphony Orchestra. Sanderling’s reputation grew as the new century approached, especially from critically successful recordings like his Mahler Sixth Symphony on the Real Sound label, and the complete symphonies of Alberic Magnard, released in 1999-2000 on BIS Records. Sanderling’s success in the recording studio continued with the acclaimed Chandos issue in 2000 of works by contemporary American composer Steve Gerber, and in 2002 with a recording of the Karl Weigl Symphony No. 5 on BIS, which received a Cannes Classical Award in 2003, the conductor’s second.
In 2004 Sanderling accepted the post of principal guest conductor of the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra. He was active in several festivals honoring Shostakovich in 2006, and among his later recordings was a 2006 DG release of the rarely performed Shostakovich work The Tale of the Priest and His Servant, Balda.
In 2007, he conducted with the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonie and also managed to record the complete works of Taneyev for Naxos.
(Source: Artist Biography by Robert Cummings)
Shostakovich: Songs
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Shostakovich Songs Gerald Finley, bass-baritone/liner notes/primary artist Includes: Six Romances on Verses by W. Raleigh, R. Burns and W. Shakespeare, Op. 62a Annie Laurie Scottish Ballad (arr. Shostakovich for voice and orchestra) Suite on Poems by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Op. 145a Verità (Truth) Release Date: 2014 |
“Thomas Sanderling’s strong sense of the compositions of Shostakovich is more than evident. Together with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, he creates a truly sensational reading of the works: the melancholy and gloom retained, without being too heavy on your heart.” Read full review here.
–Basia Jaworkski, Place de l’Opera, June 12, 2014
“Love is sung with rare poise, and Finley’s diction doesn’t disappoint. Remarkably, the more I listened the more these sometimes impersonal lines seemed to divulge. That goes for the orchestral contribution as well; the Helsinki Philharmonic are in peak form and Sanderling paces the music with great care and a keen ear for the composer’s oft soul-piercing sonorities. The ache of Separation has seldom been so keenly felt, or the lover’s ‘cries, sighs and sobs’ so movingly voiced. In Wrath the music licks and snicks like a wealing whip, and Finley sings with a controlled yet terrifying fury. In texts that can so easily be over-emoted he always balances dramatic conviction with a lieder singer’s feel for line and phrase.” Read full review here.
–Dan Morgan, Musicweb International, March 14, 2014
Russian Violin Concertos
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Russian Violin Concertos
Sergey Ostrovsky, violin/primary artist Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Includes: Conus, Jules Weinberg, Mieczyslaw Arensky, Anton Stepanovich Release Date: 2011 |
Paul Kletzki:
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Piano Concerto
Joseph Banowetz, piano/primary artist Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Includes: Piano Concerto in D Minor, Op. 22 (orchestrated by J. Norine Jr.) 3 Preludes, Op. 4 3 Unpublished Piano Pieces Fantasie in C Minor, Op. 9 Release Date: 2010 |
Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev:
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Oresteia Overture and Interlude
Overture in D Minor Overture on a Russian Theme Stanislav Jankovsky, clarinet Novosibirsk State Philharmonic Chamber Choir Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist
Release Date: 2009 |
Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev:
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Suite de Concert; Cantata “Loann Damaskin”
Ilya Kaler, violin Gnesin Academy Chorus Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2009 |
Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev:
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Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3
Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2008 |
Alberic Magnard:
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Complete Symphonies
Malmo Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date 2008 |
Prokofiev & Tchaikovsky:
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Prokofiev: Symphony No.5
Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2006 |
Shostakovich:
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The Tale of the Priest and His Worker, Balda
Suite from “Lady Macbeth” Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2006 |
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev:
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Piano Concerto in E Flat Major
Joseph Banowetz, piano/primary artist Russian Philharmonic of Moscow Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Adam Wodnicki, piano Release Date: 2006 |
Paul Kletzki:
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Symphony No.3; Concertino for Flute
Sharon Bezaly, flute/primary artist Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2004 |
Tobias Picker:
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Keys to the City; And Suddenly It’s Evening; Cello Concerto
Paul Watkins, cello/primary artist Jeremy Denk, piano/primary artist Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2003 |
Steven Gerber:
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Symphony No.1; Viola Concerto;
Triple Overture; Dirge and Awakening Las Anders Tomter, viola The Bekova Sisters Russian Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2000 |
Alberic Magnard:
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Symphonies 2 & 4
Malmo Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 2000 |
Alberic Magnard:
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Symphonies 1 & 3
Malmo Symphony Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 1999 |
Brahms:
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Symphonies Nos. 1-4; Tragic Overture
Philharmonia Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 1997 |
George Friedrich Handel: |
Alexander’s Feast
Barbara Hoene, soprano Hans-Rudiger Hulsch, cello Rosemarie Lang, alto Hermann-Christian Polster, bass Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Hans-Jurgen Wachsmuth, tenor Release Date: 1997 |
Mahler:
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Symphony No.6
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 1995 |
Richard Strauss:
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Don Juan, Macbeth, Tod und Verklarung
Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino Thomas Sanderling, conductor/primary artist Release Date: 1995 |
Pizzicato
Thomas Sanderling proves gifted Shostakovich interpreter who is able to delve into the emotional depths of this music. Sanderling is a conductor that requires no effects and has no need to attract attention through spectacular sound staging. Rather, he is a master of subtle tones. And this makes it sound with an intensity that you get goose bumps.
ClassicsToday.com
Sanderling conducts with evident glee, and offers a major bonus in the form of the Eight Waltzes from film music.
Opera Magazine
Thomas Sanderling has a sense of the compositions of Shostakovich is more than evident. Together with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, he creates a truly sensational reading of the works: the melancholy and gloom retained, without being too heavy on your heart pressures.
The Guardian
“Gerald Finley, always an intelligent and rewarding singer, has produced something rather special here. In the last year of his life, Shostakovich turned to the beautiful, philosophical poetry of Michelangelo and set a valedictory self-portrait in song, symphonic in its ambition. He used a Russian translation, but Finley, who studied medieval Italian, has fashioned an authentic text to work with Shostakovich’s music. The result, under the careful direction of Thomas Sanderling, is both moving and profound, with Finley at his warm and sinuous best. And there is more revelation in the Six Romances on Verses by English Poets. A manuscript version for full orchestra, thought to be lost in the 1940s but miraculously rediscovered, glows here in all its somber glory.”
– Stephen Pritchard, “Shostakovich: Six Romances on Verses by English Poets – ‘Finley at His Warm and Sinuous Best'”, Apr 12, 2014
The Times
“On the podium, Thomas Sanderling was as valuable for his theatre experience (to perform Kodaly’s suite from Hary Janos) as for the personal authority that he brought to Shostakovitch later on…The conductor’s connections – and those of his father, the legendary Kurt Sanderling – with Shostakovich must have inspired the players because, right from the beginning, there was an authentic and uneasy desolation… A feeling of quite suspense and ultimately terror showed in this surprisingly mature account, and with such full-bodied strings no allowances needed to be made….Rightly, the slow movement became the emotional heart of the work, but the movements on either side were ferociously driven and utterly compelling.”
– with the London Schools Symphonic Orchestra, Jan 21, 2003
The Telegraph
“Guided by the serious temperament of the music, his performances here brought out the muscle in Brahms. There was a toughness to these interpretations, securing the structure of the works with a firm foundation and framework. His pacings were measured, with a corresponding attention to detail and texture that gave the music a vibrancy, while at the same time allowing for the more mellifluous, melodically expressive facets of Brahms’s writing. There was above all a sense of reason and a sureness of purpose to his conducting.”
– with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Apr 2, 2002
The Evening Standard
“The concert was conducted by Thomas Sanderling , standing in at short notice… it’s a gestural language that produces a powerful result. Things went extremely well in the Symphony No.1, where phrases were sculpted out of the granite rock of the first movement, shaped with richly Romantic passion in the slow movement, and built to a thrilling climax in the finale. I also liked the way the reed instruments were incisively articulated: Sanderling may have had a full body of strings, but he knew better than to allow them to swamp the winds…. the loving care and finesse lavished on the symphony.”
– with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Apr 2, 2002
Reviews
Audio Samples
Spanish Songs
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian, live recording
Thomas Sanderling, Conductor
Natalia Firsova, Soloist
2. Little Stars
3. First Meeting
4. Ronda
5. Black Eyes
6. Dream
Eight English & American Folk Songs
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian, live recording
Thomas Sanderling, Conductor
2. John Anderson, my Jo
3. Billy Boy
4. Oh! the Oak and the Ash
5. The Servants of King Arthur
6. Coming thro' the Rye
Photos
Videos
