Klaus Tennstedt was born on 6 June 1926 in Merseburg, a small Saxon town between Leipzig and Halle. He was a highly talented violinist and followed his father into the Halle Opera orchestra of which he was made leader whilst still in his teens, and also studied in Dresden. A solo career awaited him but a growth on his left hand brutally cut this short at the age of 19 but, after months of depression, he emerged as the opera’s repetiteur. He naturally watched conductors but was not given an opportunity to try until, at an hour’s notice, he took over a performance. The experience galvanised him to seek this path as a career but his refusal to join the Communist Party ensured that he was limited to poorer opera houses. 

In his mid-30s he went to Berlin seeking a chance to defect, but it was not until March 1971, aged 44, when he was allowed to conduct in Gothenburg. The freedom in the West did not give him many major opportunities either; however the offer of the musical directorship of the Kiel Opera was offered and accepted. A manager from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra heard him and duly invited him to Canada. A chance stand-in engagement in Boston conducting Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony was met with such ecstatic reviews and audience enthusiasm that he was offered dates with the finest orchestras. He was 48 and after his years spent in provincial theatres this sudden fame and fortune must have been overwhelming for such a sensitive man. Luckily for the musical world he then discovered the composer whose music would make his career; a composer who, like himself, suffered from self-doubt: Gustav Mahler. He had had no chance to hear any of his music during his student years as it had been banned by the Nazis.

He was uniquely able to identify with Mahler’s life-and-death struggles and the sheer intensity that he brought to the performances made them unforgettable. It could be argued that his concerts provided the stimulus for the major record companies to change their policy of recording exclusively in the studio to one of taping live and relying on careful editing to remove any blemishes.

His repertoire was far from limited to Mahler – the romantics from Beethoven to Richard Strauss all received thoroughly detailed and considered readings. He was popular too with soloists – his experience as a repetiteur and soloist gave him an unique understanding of what they needed in an accompanist. 

Everything seemed to be set fair but the angst that he would, like Mahler, die prematurely proved correct for in his 60th year throat cancer struck. Initially he was able to continue conducting if at a reduced pace, but gradually the disease took its awful toll. His final engagement was in Oxford where he rehearsed the University orchestra before receiving an honorary doctorate in June 1994.

Klaus Tennstedt’s studio recordings for EMI Classics, primarily with his cherished London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), are celebrated as a towering achievement, cementing his reputation as one of the great conductors of the late 20th century. 

His landmark studio cycle of Mahler’s Symphonies is the monumental centrepiece of this legacy, alongside the live Mahler recordings he did. Tennstedt’s Mahler is universally praised for its sheer emotional commitment and deep feeling. His 1979 recording of Mahler’s Symphony no.5 was hailed as “revelatory” upon its release and remains just as “potent today – a reading of tremendous power and deep feeling” (Classics Today). Tennstedt possessed an instinctive grasp of Mahler’s vision. Reviewers noted his ability to take the LPO – an orchestra with little Mahler tradition – and inspire them to play the music with “passion, commitment, and in a thoroughly idiomatic manner.” This cycle, often cited for its thrilling climaxes and masterful shaping of Mahler’s vast canvases, is universally recognised as one of the finest surveys of the composer’s symphonies.

Tennstedt’s interpretations of the Central European repertoire, which also included magnificent recordings of Brahms and Wagner included in this box, favour an unfailingly beautiful orchestral tone and a massive solidity. He’s moulding and shaping the music based on his structural overview. His Brahms German Requiem is in the tradition of Klemperer, marked by sincerity and conviction.

These recordings are a lasting testament to Tennstedt's profound artistry and his extraordinary musical partnership with the LPO (which represent two-thirds of the recordings in this box).