I have realized over the past few years that Herbert Blomstedt is my most favorite conductor. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Swedish parents in 1929. He went back to Stockholm with his parents, studied music and later became a professor of conducting. During the 60s, he studied modern music with John Cage, conducting with Igor Markevitch, and made friends with Ingvar Lindholm. In the 60s and early 70s, Blomstedt directed the Swedish Radio and Danish National Radio Symphonies. He realized during this time period the benefits of conducting only orchestras that wanted him and directing them for a maximum of ten seasons. This was to prevent his music-making from ever becoming routine or second-rate. He took that philosophy to the Staatskapelle Dresden in 1975. His relations with the Dresden orchestra is special to me, because they were closely associated with my other favorite conductors: Fritz Reiner and Karl Bohm. Unlike those men, Blomstedt did not perform much opera. What he did do was be to the later generation of composers what Reiner was to Bartok, Walter was to Mahler, and Bohm was to Richard Strauss.

In the mid-1980s, the San Fransico Symphony management was determined that their orchestra sound like the Berlin Philharmonic. They had in Davies Symphony Hall a similar performing environment, and they hired musicians based on those principles. What they also needed was a conductor who could help them achieve this goal, and after one engagement, Blomstedt was appointed music director starting in 1985. Decca wisely started a recording contract with Blomstedt in 1987, which continued on through 2005. His recordings were to show the world that many compositions did not need excessive interpretive touches. Like Karl Bohm, Blomstedt found meaning in Bruckner without indulging in effects not written in the score. To anyone who can hear a work performed this way, it is the greatest promotion of Bruckner and other composers, that the scores themselves have so much enlightenment and exaltation without any need of interference. I am convinced though, that some people will always think conducting has to involve indulgence in order to be memorable, or “spiritual” as reviewers like to say.

In 1995, Solti guest-conducted the San Francisco Symphony and said that they “were on par with the big five.” That was the year Blomstedt left and a year before he took on the Gewandhausorkester Leipzig. The Leipzig orchestra turned out to be perfect for Blomstedt, since they rarely performed opera and Blomstedt’s specialties were their bread and butter. In fact, it was the first time in many years, that a better recording of a Bruckner work could be found at the Gewandhaus instead of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. A Bruckner 9 from Blomstedt in Leipzig in 1995 shows more refinement than in Chailly’s version recorded within the same timeframe by the same recording team. One could not hold such a claim between their long-time predecessors, Haitink and Masur, both recording for Phillips. Of course, most Germans don’t need any proof; the fact is that Bruckner is their music.

It would seem from the number of musicians that applied for vacancies in the Leipzig orchestra during 1996-2005, that musicians wanted to work with Blomstedt. But since his departure, Blomstedt has yet to be invited back to Leipzig. He has not been given an honorary position either. San Francisco has been the only orchestra to honor him as conductor laureate, which meant that Blomstedt has conducted the San Francisco Symphony at least once every year since 1985. For Blomstedt, this is his longest association with any orchestra, and for San Francisco, it has meant a stability in their sound that even the best orchestras cannot claim. Look at how the Chicago Symphony changed after Solti, or how the Berlin Philharmonic changed after Karajan. Even the Vienna Philharmonic does not sound quite the way they did in the mid-1980s. [I must note though, that Abbado did a great job picking up the pieces in Berlin.]

The composers Blomstedt does best are especially Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss, but also Mendelssohn, Nielsen, Schubert, and Sibelius. Now that Blomstedt is a freelance conductor, he can be seen conducting most of the great orchestras in the world.