World-famous conductor Herbert Blomstedt died last week aged 99, the Gewandhaus Leipzig said.
He passed away at home in the Swedish city of Gothenburg surrounded by his family, according to his agency.
Blomstedt shaped orchestras in Europe and the United States. He was chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and the NDR Symphony Orchestra, and led the San Francisco Symphony for 10 years.
As a guest conductor, he was in demand in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, among other cities. Even into old age, he continued to explore new interpretations.
From 1998 to 2005, Blomstedt served as Gewandhauskapellmeister and head of the Leipzig orchestra, succeeding Kurt Masur. He remained associated with the Gewandhaus as honorary conductor.
"Herbert Blomstedt is one of the few conductors who have continually developed throughout their lives. He always approaches the works anew", cellist Bernward Gruner of the Staatskapelle Dresden said on his 90th birthday in July 2017.
Born in the US in 1927 to Swedish parents, a preacher and a pianist, Blomstedt received his first music lessons from his mother.
Initially hoping to become a train driver, he was drawn to mathematics, history, geography and languages. As a Seventh-day Adventist following in his father's footsteps, he could also have studied theology.
He eventually chose music, studying violin in Stockholm and later conducting with Leonard Bernstein, among others. In 1954, he made his conducting debut with the Stockholm Philharmonic.
After chief conductor posts in Scandinavia, Blomstedt made his Dresden Staatskapelle debut in 1969, leading the orchestra from 1975 to 1985.
He then led the San Francisco Symphony before returning to Germany in 1996 as chief of the NDR Symphony Orchestra.
Blomstedt received numerous honours, including Germany's Grand Cross of Merit with Star in 2022 and the Japanese art prize Praemium Imperiale in September 2026.
"Herbert Blomstedt is an exceptional figure as a person, musician and conductor", Gewandhaus director Andreas Schulz said on the maestro's 90th birthday, paying tribute to his life and work.
In a 2017 dpa interview, he expressed gratitude for his wife Traute, who died in 2003.
"She loved music and was at every one of my concerts, even when she had often heard the works. She could never get enough of it. She gave me four daughters, wonderfully different people who are all close to me".
Musical curiosity remained a defining trait. "I still discover new things in works I have played often", he said.
"You have to be so receptive and sensitive that you stand before a work with respect and gratitude. You must never fall into routine". — dpa
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