X-Nico

12 unusual facts about Hans Knappertsbusch


Bern Symphony Orchestra

Reaching beyond Switzerland from the 1930s, the fame of the orchestra later attracted guest conductors including Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Ernest Ansermet, Hans Knappertsbusch, Ferenc Fricsay, Rafael Kubelík, Günter Wand, Kurt Sanderling, Horst Stein, Yuri Ahronovitch and Eliahu Inbal.

Bruckner Orchestra Linz

During its long and venerable history, the orchestra has performed with such luminaries as Clemens Kraus, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sergiu Celibidache, Kurt Eichhorn, Vaclav Neumann, and Christoph von Dohnányi.

Esther Réthy

She remained a frequent performer at the Hungarian State Opera House and appeared often as a guest at the Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, and Semperoper under such conductors as Karl Böhm, Victor de Sabata, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, and Josef Krips.

Frederick Charles Adler

(Hans Knappertsbusch was the only other major conductor to stick with the first editions consistently.) His recording of Bruckner's Sixth Symphony is, as of 2006, the only recording ever made of the 1899 first published edition.

Hans Knappertsbusch

He began his career with conducting jobs in Elberfeld (1913-1918), Leipzig (1918-1919) and Dessau (1919-1922).

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

At the same time he became one of the emerging artists of the Salzburg Festival.

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.

John Culshaw, the Decca recording producer, was disappointed with the performances of the first three operas in the tetralogy, but was impressed by the Götterdämmerung and edited up a version of it but Decca did not release it.

Jess Thomas

His recordings include Die Meistersinger (with Claire Watson, 1963), Die Frau ohne Schatten (1963), Siegfried (conducted by Herbert von Karajan, 1968–69), Ariadne auf Naxos (conducted by Karl Böhm, 1969) and, from Bayreuth, Parsifal (with Irene Dalis as Kundry, led by Hans Knappertsbusch, 1962) and Lohengrin (with Anja Silja and Astrid Varnay, 1962).

Paul Kuën

Kuën can be heard on many recordings of Wagner's operas, including performances conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Joseph Keilberth, Clemens Krauss, Hans Knappertsbusch, and Sir Georg Solti.

Wolfgang Windgassen

Windgassen was the Siegfried in several complete, live Rings from Bayreuth that have been issued commercially on CD, conducted by such now-legendary figures as Hans Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, Joseph Keilberth, and Karl Böhm.


André Cluytens

According to Wolfgang Wagner, Cluytens was "universally liked for his amiable, open-minded attitude"; Hans Knappertsbusch was delighted when Cluytens requested that the older conductor introduce him to Parsifal.

Gerhard Unger

One of his signature roles was David from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which is confirmed by the number of times he recorded the role, including with Herbert von Karajan (1951), Rudolf Kempe (1951 and 1956), Hans Knappertsbusch (1952), Hans Rosbaud (1955), and Rafael Kubelík (1968).