Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch (1888 - 1965) was one of the most renowned and beloved conductors of the German Romantic repertoire in the mid-twentieth century. Although he grew up playing and loving music, his parents objected to the notion of a musical career. Consequently, Knappertsbusch studied philosophy at Bonn University; in 1908, however, he entered the Cologne Conservatory, where he studied conducting with Fritz Steinbach.
Knappertsbusch began his career as a staff conductor at the Mülheim-Ruhr Theater (1910 - 1912) and then as opera director in his home town (1913 - 1918). Equally important to his development were his summers as an assistant to director Siegfried Wagner and conductor Hans Richter at the Bayreuth Festival. Knappertsbusch's Bayreuth activities led to his taking part in the Netherlands Wagner Festivals in 1913 and 1914. In 1918 Knappertsbusch went to Leipzig and, in 1919, to Dessau, where he became music director in 1920. When Bruno Walter left Munich in 1922, Knappertsbusch was asked to assume the position as music director there.
Knappertsbusch's personality was easygoing; he was notably free of the restlessness and undue ambition that often attended a rising career such as his. He was content mainly to stay in Munich, with the result that he never became as well-known as many of his colleagues. In any case, Munich fully appreciated Knappertsbusch's talents, and he was named conductor for life. However, he refused several demands by the Nazis and was fired from his "lifetime" post in 1936. He conducted a memorable "Salome" in Covent Garden in 1936 and 1937 and guest conducted elsewhere in Germany, but was content to maintain a low profile during the Nazi regime. He left Germany after the Munich debacle, settling in Vienna where he frequently conducted the Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera. Knappertsbusch's career was again impacted by the Nazis when Germany took over Austria over in 1938; however, he was mostly able to steer of trouble with the Nazis.
Knappertsbusch gained a reputation for broad, magisteral performances of Bruckner and, more and more, seemed to represent the traditional style of unhurried Wagner performances. He was famous for disliking rehearsals, often cutting them short; his orchestral players maintained that this was not the result of laziness, but of complete security in his interpretation and trust of the players. His performances were therefore not rigidly preconceived, but instead had a remarkable freshness and spontaneity.
When the Bayreuth Festivals reopened in 1951, Knappertsbusch worked closely with Wieland Wagner on orchestral matters (though the conductor was known to dislike Wagner's spare, revolutionary stage productions). Knappertsbusch's most outstanding recording is his stereo account of Wagner's "Parsifal" from the Bayreuth stage.
© Joseph Stevenson /TiVo
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Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Highlights (Mono Version)
Paul Schöffler, Günther Treptow, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Les maîtres chanteurs de Nuremberg, extraits (Mono Version)
George London, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Strauss conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch
Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Archipel on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner : Der Fliegende Holländer
Opera - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Knappertsbusch conducts
Symphonies - Released by Preiser Records on 26 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Knappertsbusch Conducts Bruckner Symphony No. 5
Münchner Philharmoniker, Stuttgart Sudfunk Symphony Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 2 Jul 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 (Live)
Wilhelm Backhaus, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch, Joseph Keilberth
Chamber Music - Released by Stradivarius on 20 Sep 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Mozart Recordings
Alfred Burkner, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Andromeda on 20 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Knappertsbusch: Early Recordings 1928-1941 (Richard Wagner - Franz Liszt - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Classical - Released by Archiphon on 1 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: DAS RHEINGOLD
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 13 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Symphonies - Released by Preiser Records on 19 Sep 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Knappertsbusch conducts Weber · Strauss · Lanner · Schubert · Komzák
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Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 30 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, L. Van: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 8 (Munich Philharmonic, Knappertsbusch) (1956) (Ludwig van Beethoven - Johannes Brahms)
Classical - Released by IDIS on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantasy Music
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch, New York Pro Musica
Classical - Released by Music Manager on 4 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Conductors: Gala Night in Vienna (Remastered 2018)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 19 Oct 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, actes I & III (Mono Version)
Paul Schöffler, Hilde Gueden, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 3 - Eroica & Symphony No. 8 : Beethoven
Hans Knappertsbusch, Münchner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 23 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: PARSIFAL
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 26 Jul 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony, No. 94 "Surprise" (1990 Remastered Version)
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vienna Holiday
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Aug 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinfonie No. 9 - Anton Bruckner
Hans Knappertsbusch, Berliner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by OperaPrima-Carillon on 23 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo