. He is an internationally celebrated grand seigneur of the conductor's baton, a universally respected veteran conductor: Thomas Sanderling, born in 1942 in Novosibirsk. In 2017, he became head of the city's symphony orchestra, but resigned in 2022 in protest against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In our Russian program, he conducts the overture to Borodin's national opera Prince Igor , the rarely heard Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 – with the Chinese-Canadian star pianist Sheng Cai as soloist – and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, with whom Sanderling was friends. The work is a bold, even cheeky surprise package. After the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War in 1945, the officials in the USSR, especially Stalin, were expecting a monumental socialist "Super-Ninth"—with soloists, choir, and large orchestra modeled on Beethoven's "Ninth." But instead, Shostakovich composed a witty, sparkling neoclassical symphony, imbued with the spirit of Haydn and simply declaring: "Hurrah, the war is over!"

Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich

Thomas Sanderling

Events

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Feb 28, 2026

Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich · Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Symphony No. 9 by Shostakovich

Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Prince Igor by Borodin

Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

Conductor in Piano Concerto No. 2 by Tchaikovsky

Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

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