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
Artistes similaires
-
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen, WWV 86 (Live)
Opéra - Paru chez Orfeo le 28 juil. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal by Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus
Opéra - Paru chez Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording le 8 févr. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal, WWV 111
Opéra - Paru chez Orfeo le 26 juil. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (1885 Version, Ed. A. Gutmann)
Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classique - Paru chez Orfeo le 15 juin 2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Orchestral Works by Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Birgit Nilsson
Classique - Paru chez Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording le 27 oct. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 "Wagner" - Richard Wagner: Parsifal (Kundry's Aria), Tristan und Isolde (Prelude & Liebestod)
Hans Knappertsbusch, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirsten Flagstad, Birgit Nilsson
Symphonies - Paru chez Praga Digitals le 1 juil. 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal, Sacred Festival Drama in Three Acts
Hans Knappertsbusch, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus
Opéra - Paru chez Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording le 29 oct. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Orchestral Works (Live)
Wilhelm Backhaus, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Concertos pour clavier - Paru chez Orfeo le 10 juin 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90 (Bayerische Staatsoper Live)
Opéra - Paru chez Orfeo le 9 août 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner : Symphonies Nos. 3, 4, 5 & 8
Symphonies - Paru chez Decca le 7 févr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete RIAS Recordings (1950-1952) : Oeuvres de Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner, Nicolai, Strauss (Hans Knappertsbusch / Berliner Philharmoniker)
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Audite le 1 oct. 2010
Diapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Orchestral Edition: Volume 8)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classique - Paru chez Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. le 1 janv. 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" (Live)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classique - Paru chez MUNCHNER PHILHARMONIKER GBR le 30 nov. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner : Parsifal (Festival de Bayreuth, 1961)
Opéra - Paru chez Myto Historical le 16 janv. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner : Parsifal (Bayreuth 1956)
Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Hans Knappertsbusch, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Opéra - Paru chez The Art Of Singing le 22 oct. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY No. 5, No. 8
Classique - Paru chez Nar Classical le 12 avr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
150 Jahre Wiener Philharmoniker - Hans Knappertsbusch
Symphonies - Paru chez Preiser Records le 1 janv. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE
Opéra - Paru chez Nar Classical le 9 août 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (Remastered 2022) [Live]
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hans Knappertsbusch
Classique - Paru chez Archipel le 2 sept. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
WAGNER: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG; TRISTAN UND ISOLDE; SIEGFRIED IDYLL; GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG
Classique - Paru chez Nar Classical le 1 juin 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Knappertsbusch - rarities
Symphonies - Paru chez Preiser Records le 19 sept. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo