Leo Borchard
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Leo Borchard (born March 31, 1899 in Moscow, died August 23, 1945 in Berlin) was a Russian conductor and briefly musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was born in Moscow to German parents, and grew up in Saint Petersburg where he received a solid musical education. In 1920, after the Russian Revolution, he emigrated to Germany. He was the assistant to Otto Klemperer at the Kroll Opera in Berlin, and conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in January 1933. In 1935, he was banned by the Nazi regime as politically unreliable.
During World War II he was a Resistance activist, remaining in Berlin. On 26 May 1945, two and a half weeks after Germany's unconditional surrender, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a concert featuring Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony to great public acclaim. One week later he was appointed musical director of the orchestra, replacing Wilhelm Furtwängler who was in exile in Switzerland.
In August 1945 he died when he was accidentally shot by an American soldier.
| Preceded by Wilhelm Furtwängler |
Musical Directors, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 1945 |
Succeeded by Sergiu Celibidache |
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