Günter Wand was born on January 7, 1912 in Elberfeld, Germany. He first of all studied in Wuppertal and then went to Cologne, where he studied composition and piano under Philipp Jarnach, Franz von Hösslin and Paul Baumgartner. Wand was engaged by Cologne Opera in 1939. After leading the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in 1944-45, he was appointed chief musical director in Cologne, where from 1946 onwards he also conducted the Gürzenich concerts. Under his leadership the Cologne Opera House and the Operatic Orchestra became one of the best in Germany.
In 1982, Wand was appointed Music Director of the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 1990 this position was changed to Conductor Laureate and Lifetime Honorary Conductor of the North German Radio in Hamburg. Under this title, he conducts an exclusive series of concerts in Hamburg with the orchestra, including the complete Bruckner symphonies.
In January 1989, Günter Wand made his American debut, conducting four concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This debut was highly praised by the leading American newspapers; one said that "all of musical Chicago was talking about Günter Wand after he led the symphony". He was immediately re-engaged by the CSO, and has since conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.
In 1990, Günter Wand signed an exclusive contract with BMG Classics / RCA Victor Red Seal, and he has subsequently contributed a series of superlative recordings to the catalog. Concentrating on the symphonic music of German composers, he has recorded several works of Bruckner, Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms for the label, and has won several awards for his work. Wand’s recent recordings of Bruckner’s Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic were much more successful than his earlier versions. These performances crowned his achievement as one of our greatest Bruckner Conductors.
Wand’s approach to Bruckner was slow and gradual. His involvement grew as he advanced toward artistic maturity. It was with Bruckner’s Fifth, which he conducted at the age of sixty-two, that Wand’s mature career began. "The most important symphonist after Beethoven" is what he calls Bruckner. Instead of playing homage to Bruckner, Wand stresses the inner drama contained in the music. It is no exaggeration to say that Wand has made an indispensable contribution toward the understanding of Bruckner in our time.