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Hans Knappertsbusch

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Hans Knappertsbusch (March 12, 1888 – October 25, 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss.

Knappertsbusch was born in Elberfeld, today's Wuppertal. He studied philosophy at Bonn University and conducting at the Cologne Conservatory with Fritz Steinbach. For a few summers, he assisted Siegfried Wagner and Hans Richter at Bayreuth. He began his career with conducting jobs in Elberfeld (1913-1918), Leipzig (1918-1919) and Dessau (1919-1922). When Bruno Walter left Munich for New York, Knappertsbusch succeeded him as General Music Director of the Bavarian State Orchestra.

Knappertsbusch incurred the wrath of Goebbels by asking a German diplomat in the Netherlands whether he was a "Muss-Nazi" (someone who was forced to join the Nazi Party for career reasons): as a result his Munich contract was revoked.[1] In the late 1930s he went to Vienna to conduct at the Wiener Staatsoper, thus ignoring the Nazis' policy of not allowing German artists to work in Austria. At the same time he became one of the emerging artists of the Salzburg Festival. Knappertsbusch continued to appear in Vienna and Salzburg during the German occupation of Austria.

When World War II ended, Knappertsbusch returned to Munich, but continued to guest conduct in Vienna, as well as to make appearances at the Bayreuth Festival.[2] He was one of the favorite conductors of the Wiener Philharmoniker, leading the orchestra in Vienna, Salzburg and on tour abroad, although generally he rarely toured outside the German-speaking world. He disliked long rehearsals, and was sometimes accused of laziness.

Knappertsbusch died in Munich in 1965. Many of his recordings, including his historic Decca recordings in stereo, have been re-released on CD. His 1951 and 1962 recordings of Parsifal are generally considered definitive of that work.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Norman Lebrecht, The Maestro Myth, p. 103
  2. ^ "Obituary for Hans Knappertsbusch". The Musical Times. vol. 106 (no. 1474): pp. 971. 1965. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); |volume= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Greenfield, Edward (1965). "Review of 1962 Philips recording of Parsifal". The Musical Times. vol. 106 (no. 1465): pp. 210. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); |volume= has extra text (help)

References

  • john hunt discographies: kna: concert register and discography of hans knappertsbusch. Short Run Press, Exeter, 2007, ISBN 978-1-90139-522-8


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