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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Hans Knappertsbusch - rarities
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 19.09.2006
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Richard Wagner: Parsifal - An Opera in Three Acts
Oper - Erschienen bei The Digital Gramophone am 08.07.2014
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Anton Bruckner Symphonie No. 4 in E-Flat 'Romantic'
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 25.10.1994
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Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4
Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bremer Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Archipel am 11.12.2007
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Schubert: Symphony No. 8 - Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Urania am 30.11.2002
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SCHUMANN: SYMPHONY No. 4; BRAHMS: No.3
Klassik - Erschienen bei Nar Classical am 12.04.2023
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Hans Knappertsbusch conducts
Symphonien - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 04.10.2006
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Wagner: Rienzi Overture; Der fliegende Holländer Overture; Siegfried Idyll; Lohengrin (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 15)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1962
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Wagner: Die Meistersinger; The Ride Of The Valkyries; Parsifal; Tannhäuser; Der fliegende Holländer Overture (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 10)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 14.01.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4; Siegfried Idyll (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 6)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1955
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Great Scenes From Wagner (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Opera Edition: Volume 8)
George London, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1959
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Die grossen Wagner Chöre - Original von den Bayreuther Festspielen
Bayreuther Festspielchor, Bayreuther Festspielorchester, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Silvio Varviso, Karl Böhm, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Philips am 01.01.1988
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Wagner: Tannhäuser Overture and Venusberg Music / The Flying Dutchman / The Ride of the Valkyries
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei OBX Records am 23.03.2015
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Wagner Recital – Wesendonck Lieder (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Opera Edition: Volume 7)
Kirsten Flagstad, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1956
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Brahms: Academic Festival Overture; Tragic Overture; Haydn Variaitons; Alto Rhapsody (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 4)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1958
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Wagner: Rienzi Overture; Lohengrin; Die Meistersinger; Tannhäuser (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 11)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 14.01.2022
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Wagner: Highlights from The Ring Cycle - Essential Music from Der Ring des Nibelungen with Ride of the Valkyries, Siegfried's Rhine Journey & More
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Oper - Erschienen bei Classical Expressions am 11.12.2013
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Wagner: Die Walküre; Götterdämmerung ; Tristan und Isolde – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 17)
Kirsten Flagstad, Set Svanholm, Birgit Nilsson, Sir Georg Solti, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 13.11.2020
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Bruckner, Wagner & Liszt: Orchestral Works (Live)
Bavarian State Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Andromeda am 12.03.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre (Act I) – Excerpts (Opera Gala – Volume 15)
Kirsten Flagstad, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No.8 / Wagner: Siegfried Idyll; Preludes
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo