Lew Ljewitsch "Leo" Borchard (31 March 1899 – 23 August 1945) was a German-Russian

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and briefly musical director of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

Biography

Borchard was born in Moscow to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

parents, and grew up in

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where he received a solid musical education, as well being a regular visitor to the Stanislavsky Theatre. In 1920, after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, he emigrated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

engaged him as his assistant at the Kroll Opera in Berlin (Klemperer, lacking confidence in his own abilities, expected Borchard to critique his conducting technique). He conducted the

for the first time in January 1933. In 1935, he was banned by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime as politically unreliable. He continued teaching at his apartment and received his friends, including

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...

and

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Bio ...

.Friedrich, Ruth-Andreas. ''Der Schattenmann – Tagebuch Aufzeichnungen 1938-1945.'' Surhrkamp Verlag, 1947; as quoted in notes by Myriam Scherchen and René Trémine for CD Tahra 520. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he remained in Berlin as a Resistance activist under the name Andrik Krassnow, during which time his duties included contact with Ludwig Lichtwitz, a specialist in false identity papers. On 26 May 1945, two and a half weeks after Germany's

unconditional surrender An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees, reassurances, or promises (i.e., conditions) are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation. Anno ...

, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at the Titania Palast cinema, in a concert featuring the Overture to

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'',

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's Violin Concerto in A major and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's Symphony No. 4, to great public acclaim. One week later he was appointed musical director of the orchestra by the

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official

Nikolai Berzarin Nikolai Erastovich Berzarin ( Russian: Никола́й Эра́стович Берза́рин; 1 April 1904 – 16 June 1945) was a Soviet military officer who held field army commands during World War II. A Hero of the Soviet Union, in 1945 he ...

, replacing

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , ; ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest Symphony, symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a majo ...

, who was in exile in

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. His anti-Nazi credentials and command of the

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enabled him to enjoy a close relationship with the occupiers. He gave 22 concerts in total as chief conductor of the BPO. After a concert on 23 August 1945 Borchard and his partner

Ruth Andreas-Friedrich Ruth Andreas-Friedrich (; September 23, 1901 – September 17, 1977) was a German journalist. She was born Ruth Andreas in Berlin and was a member of the Wandervogel movement as a girl. She trained as a social worker and also wrote articles ...

were invited to dinner by a British colonel. The pair had a wonderful evening especially as it gave them the chance to eat real meat and white sandwiches. Afterwards there was whiskey to enjoy as they discussed music and other subjects with their host. There was a curfew at 10.45pm, but the colonel assured them there was no need to hurry home as he would drive them home in his official car. Unfortunately there had been a gunfight between some drunk Americans and Russians the previous night which meant the checkpoints were on edge in Berlin. Their British driver misinterpreted an American sentry's hand signal to stop at the checkpoint on the border between the British and American sectors at Kaiserplatz (today called , in

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 admin ...

, a borough of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) and drove through. This caused the sentries to open fire on the car killing Borchard instantly. The British driver and Andreas-Friedrich survived. As a result of this incident, it was decided to mark military checkpoints more prominently so that hand signals were not required.

Memorials

In 1943

dedicated his Capriccio for Orchestra, op. 2 to him. Borchard also conducted the world premiere with the Berlin Philharmonic on 11 March 1943. In October 1988, a Berlin memorial plaque was unveiled on former the home of Andreas-Friedrich and Borchard. In April 1990, the music school in the Berlin district of Steglitz was named the Leo-Borchard-Musikschule (Leo Borchard Music School). Today it is considered the largest music school in Germany. On 5 and 6 September 1995

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

and the Berlin Philharmonic marked the anniversary of Borchard's death with performances of Mahler's 6th Symphony.

Recordings

*Boccherini – Minuet *Delibes – Mazurka & Valse Lente from ''Coppelia'' *Françaix – Piano Concertino *Glazounov – Stenka Razin* *Puccini – orchestral selection from ''Tosca'' *Rebikov – Berceuse *Suppé – Overture to ''Banditenstreiche'' *Tchaikovsky – Fantasy Overture, ''Romeo and Juliet''*; Excerpts from ''The Nutcracker'' *Wagner – Wotan's Farewell *Weber – Overture ''Oberon''* (*broadcasts from June 1945)Discographical details from Darrell R D. ''The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music.'' The Gramophone Shop Inc, New York, 1936, and the ''Classic Record Collector'' review.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borchard, Leo 1899 births 1945 deaths German male conductors (music) Naturalized citizens of Germany Russian people of German descent Soviet emigrants to Germany German resistance members 20th-century German conductors (music) 20th-century German male musicians Deaths by firearm in Germany Accidental deaths in Germany Principal conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic