(More) Conversations with Blomstedt
The new edition of «Mission Musik» has been expanded to include an interview with the conductor, which took place over the course of last year.
It will be instructive to get to know the broad musical spectrum of the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt by listening to his recording of Ingvar Lidholm's Poesis and also that of Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony and Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor. The now 98-year-old conductor, who has nothing of the stature of a podium star about him, but is loved by the great orchestras worldwide and is therefore repeatedly engaged, is able to lead them to top performances with his amiable correctness, his self-discipline and his responsibility towards the work.
Topics of conversation
Mission Music is the title of the book containing nine conversations between music critic Julia Spinola and Blomstedt. The last one, conducted in Leipzig last May, resulted in an extensive additional chapter for this third edition.
Very different areas and situations are examined, especially those of the two German orchestras he led as chief conductor, the Staatskapelle Dresden 1975-1985 and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig 1998-2005. Of course, the position of the conductor is discussed, as well as internal problems of the orchestras; Blomstedt also held chief conductor positions in Oslo, Copenhagen and San Francisco during his long life. His insistence on the old German orchestral set-up was extremely interesting, as was his approach to works of new music and his attention to the audience with brief explanations. No pretentiousness, but an intensive effort to pass on the expert's insights in an understandable way.
Repertoire focus
The interviewer repeatedly succeeds in obtaining penetrating answers about the motivation behind his worldwide activities, while the private side of his life is revealed completely without voyeurism. His commitment to Nordic music, especially to Carl Nielsen, Franz Berwald and Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, his close relationship to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his late approach to Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss are evidence of the specialties of his repertoire. He has performed Bruckner's nine symphonies twice with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, from 2005 to 2012 and in 2023. The extensive discography in the appendix reflects the fact that the ninety-year-old has also recorded his third complete recording of the Beethoven symphonies as well as several symphonies by Brahms, Stenhammar and Voříšek. 
Herbert Blomstedt: Mission Musik - Gespräche mit Julia Spinola, 199 p., € 26.00, third, expanded edition, Henschel/Bärenreiter, Leipzig/Kassel 2025, ISBN 978-3-7618-2417-7 (Bärenreiter)
