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Leo Borchard




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.