Herbert Blomstedt

The world’s oldest conductor enchants the Festival

A luminary at work: 97-year-old Herbert Blomstedt.(Bild: SF/Marco Borrelli)

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Herbert Blomstedt enchant the audience at two concerts at the Salzburg Festival. The maestro is already 97 years old. But he has no real recipe for old age. 

Grand seigneur, old master, living legend - terms that rarely apply to a conductor as well as they do to Herbert Blomstedt. Born in the USA, he celebrated his 97th birthday around two weeks ago. However, his age is almost only noticeable when he walks to the podium. The maestro, the oldest active conductor in the world, takes a little longer with accompaniment than in earlier years. Like in 1954, for example, when he made his debut with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Whether standing or now seated: with Blomstedt as conductor, bursting with verve, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Singverein, the audience in the Grosses Festspielhaus is enchanted. On Sunday, there were standing ovations after Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Lobgesang" and the "Schicksalslied" by Johannes Brahms. When Blomstedt rose from his stool after the last note, there was no stopping him. Today, these sounds can be heard once again in the sold-out hall as part of the "Overture spirituelle".  

The audience will be enchanted at the concert by Blomstedt and Co.(Bild: SF/Marco Borrelli)

Vegetarian food, no alcohol
According to Blomstedt, there is no special recipe for fitness in old age. Neither being a non-smoker nor a vegetarian or not drinking alcohol. "My brother had the same lifestyle as me - and yet he had all the diseases in the world," the self-confessed seventh-day Adventist once told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper. But music definitely plays a role. "Being a conductor is a good profession to grow old in, because it's always a challenge. You need that when you get older. You just can't overdo it."