Otto Gerdes

Otto Gerdes was a German conductor and record producer born in 1920 in Cologne. He studied music, including conducting with Hermann Abendroth at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, and went on to conduct opera in several German cities such as Berlin, Dresden, Koblenz, Leipzig, and Munich. Later, he conducted radio orchestras in Baden-Baden and Cologne and also led concerts with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. In 1956, he began working as a record producer for Deutsche Grammophon, becoming the label's artistic director in 1963. Gerdes is notable for having been Herbert von Karajan’s main producer at Deutsche Grammophon. Apart from producing, he also conducted recordings, famously stepping in to conduct excerpts of "Eugene Onegin" when needed. He passed away in 1989.

Related Artists Spotify Logo
Camille Saint-Saëns
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Herbert von Karajan
Claudio Abbado
Dmitri Shostakovich
Leonard Bernstein
Collage of Genre Images

RecentMusic users are tracking Otto Gerdes and over 376,800 other artists to know when they release the new music.

Join them and feed your new music addiction, and add the artists you love!

Get Started