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Benjamin Zander is one of those rare musicians who gained celebrity only in the later stages of their careers. A virtual unknown, Zander began to receive considerable critical attention in the mid-'90s, mainly for his recordings with the then-obscure Boston Philharmonic Orchestra; this led to great interest from concert promoters and impresarios. On the merits of his imaginative interpretive ideas and solid podium technique, he became practically an overnight sensation -- as he was nearing the age of 60!

Benjamin Zander was born on March 9, 1939, in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghampshire, England. He demonstrated remarkable musical talent in his early childhood and even began composing at the age of nine; his burgeoning artistry on the cello was also of a rare caliber. Eventually he attracted the notice of Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst, daughter of composer Gustav Holst, both of whom began teaching young Benjamin. At the age of fifteen, Zander left England, eventually to take up studies on the cello with Gaspar Cassado. He then toured Europe giving many highly successful concerts before finally deciding to return to England to enroll at the University College London. After graduation, he traveled to the U.S. for post-graduate studies at Harvard University.

Zander has lived in Boston since the mid-'60s and he began teaching there at the New England Conservatory in 1967. Five years later, he became conductor of the NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1979 the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra was founded and Zander appointed its music director, a post he still holds in the 2000-2001 season. While both he and the orchestra remained in relative obscurity for their first 15 or so years, together they began to garner considerable recognition in the 1990s, both in the concert hall and on recordings. Their account of the massive Mahler Eighth Symphony, performed in the 1998-99 season and repeated in 2000 at Symphony Hall in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York, received much critical acclaim.

Because of his successes in the recording venue, Zander has moved near to superstar status, owing mostly to his recordings of several Mahler symphonies with the Boston Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He has established a relationship with this latter group, and in 1998 began a cycle of Beethoven symphonies with them for Telarc Records that will reach completion in the early 2000s.

In 2000, Zander was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Orchestral Performance" category for his recording of the Mahler Ninth Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Zander is unusual in that he also has a career as a motivational speaker in management development. He appears regularly before groups from various corporations and organizations, and works in this endeavor with his wife Rosamund Stone Zander, a noted psychotherapist. Together they wrote the book The Art of Possibility, published in September 2000 by Harvard Business School Press.

In January 2000, Zander was featured on a 60 Minutes segment, which dealt with both his musical and speaking careers. He has also appeared on the ABC News program Nightline, on BBC television, and on PBS television with a program entitled Living on One Buttock. Zander has recorded for several labels including Telarc, Carlton Classics, and CPI. Besides his continuing involvement with the New England Conservatory of Music, he also teaches gifted students at the well known Walnut Hill School. Zander has his own website, accessible at www.benjaminzander.com.

London's Philharmonia Orchestra is generally considered one of Britain's top symphonic ensembles and has sometimes been named as the very best. Formed by recording executive Walter Legge at the end of World War II, the orchestra benefited from the presence of several top Continental conductors in its first years and has generated an impressive recording catalog from the very beginning. Although London already boasted the world-class London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestras, Legge resolved to create an ensemble that would equal the best in the German-speaking musical sphere. To this end, he recruited top young musicians (some 60 percent of the players were still serving in the British armed forces at the beginning) and, after he was turned down by friend Thomas Beecham, a roster of star German conductors. These included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Richard Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, and Otto Klemperer. At first, Legge avoided the appointment of a permanent conductor, and the players learned to produce superb results under several different kinds of artistic leadership.

Primarily a recording ensemble at first, the Philharmonia began giving concerts that were often innovative in content. The young Leonard Bernstein recorded Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major with the group, and the orchestra gave the world premiere of Strauss' Four Last Songs with soloist Kirsten Flagstad in 1950 at the Royal Albert Hall. In the mid-'50s, Furtwängler died and Karajan departed for Berlin; Legge appointed the 74-year-old Klemperer conductor for life. Klemperer's performances were often idiosyncratic but just as often brilliant, and many of his recordings with the Philharmonia remain in print. A complete cycle of Brahms symphonies under Klemperer was reissued by the firm Broken Audio in the 2010s.

The orchestra ran into trouble in the early 1960s as financial problems arose and several of its best musicians, including hornist Dennis Brain, met untimely deaths. Legge attempted to disband the group in 1964, but the players, encouraged by Klemperer, formed the New Philharmonia Orchestra and continued to perform. The orchestra performed at the Beethoven bicentennial in Bonn, West Germany, in 1970. That year, Lorin Maazel was appointed associate principal conductor to reduce the workload of the aging Klemperer, but he clashed with the orchestra members, who had maintained a self-governing structure. Instead, Riccardo Muti was appointed chief conductor in 1973. Four years later, the original name was restored.

Under Muti, the orchestra often recorded opera and entered upon what was widely regarded as a second golden age. In 1981, under conductor Kurt Sanderling, the Philharmonia made the first digital recording of Beethoven's complete symphonies. Muti was succeeded in 1984 by Giuseppe Sinopoli, whose performances of key British repertory such as the works of Elgar were criticized, but who extended the orchestra's reach in Italian opera. Christoph von Dohnányi ascended the podium in 1997 and took the orchestra on tours of continental Europe and, in 2002 and 2003, to a residency in New York. Bicontinental Finnish conducting star Esa-Pekka Salonen became chief conductor in 2008 and has continued to maintain the orchestra's high standards; his departure was announced for the year 2021, creating an opening at the very top level of English music-making. The Philharmonia continued to record for EMI after Legge's departure but moved to Deutsche Grammophon under Sinopoli and has since recorded for a large variety of labels. In 2019, the Philharmonia backed innovative Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen on her debut release, with Salonen conducting. ~ James Manheim