Once the head conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and as the principal guest conductor with the Deutschen Staatsoper (German State Opera) in Berlin since 1995, Hartmut Haenchen (originally spelled Hänchen) is noted for the clear, precise phrasing and sumptuously sonorous tones he evokes from his musicians. In his youth, Haenchen was a member of the Kreuzchor in Dresden. As a 15-year-old cantor, he was conducting performances and led a revival of J.A. Hasse's Requiem when he was 17. That year, he entered the Dresden Hochschule für Mu...