Hans Knappertsbusch

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Hans Knappertsbusch

Hans Knappertsbusch (born March 12, 1888 in Elberfeld (today: district of Wuppertal ), † October 25, 1965 in Munich ) was a German conductor .

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Artistic career

Knappertsbusch's birthplace

Hans Knappertsbusch was born as the son of an Elberfeld spirits manufacturer. He showed his interest in conducting as a schoolboy by leading the orchestra of the local high school. After graduating from school, he studied - against the will of his parents - at the Conservatory in Cologne . He learned to conduct there from the then famous Fritz Steinbach . Starting in 1909, stations of his early work as Kapellmeister were in Mülheim an der Ruhr , Bochum , Elberfeld and Leipzig . At the same time, from 1909 to 1912 he assisted the then festival director Siegfried Wagner in Bayreuth and above all the Wagner conductor Hans Richter . This was a time that had a formative influence on his musical style of interpretation and initiated his development as a Wagner conductor of international stature. In 1914 he achieved his first sensation by directing the Wagner Festival in Holland. His path then led him via the Dessau Court Opera , where he became Germany's youngest general music director in 1919 , to Munich . In 1922 he succeeded Bruno Walter as director of the Bavarian State Opera and the Academy Concerts in the Odeon, a position he held until 1935. In 1924 he was appointed professor.

time of the nationalsocialism

When, in 1933, on the 50th anniversary of Richard Wagner's death in Munich, Thomas Mann gave a lecture entitled The Sorrows and Greatness of Richard Wagner , in which he on the one hand paid tribute to Wagner and his work, but also subjected them to complex criticism, the passionate Wagner admirer Knappertsbusch felt challenged Idol to defend, and with the participation of Hans Pfitzner wrote a "Protest of the Richard-Wagner-Stadt München", in which the criticism of Mann was rejected in sharp words, but above all the support of Mann for the Weimar Republic was denounced. The protest note was signed by around 40 well-known cultural figures from the city of Munich, including Richard Strauss , as well as political representatives and published on the radio and in the Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten .

Knappertsbusch's political attitude was German national , but he was not a member of the NSDAP . He was also not sympathetic to National Socialism and did not mince his words. His personal antipathy towards the party meant that the National Socialists soon classified him as "politically unreliable". Since he did not shy away from directly offending Hitler in his blunt manner , the consequences did not last long: in 1935 he was deposed as Munich opera director and banned from working. However, this was soon canceled because there was a lack of excellent conductors in the Third Reich. His successor as opera director in 1937 was Clemens Krauss, who was favored by Hitler and politically more docile .

Because of the events in Munich, Knappertsbusch shifted his main focus to Austria . In 1936 he appeared for the first time at the Vienna State Opera , where he became a permanent guest conductor and, although without an official position, was significantly involved in the management of the State Opera until 1944. He also took part again from 1937 on at the Salzburg Festival , where he made his debut in 1929. Also from 1937 until his death, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic many times . After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in 1938, Knappertsbusch gradually returned to work on German territory and during the war also undertook a number of tours in the countries occupied by Germany or allied with Germany, mainly with the Berliner Philharmoniker with concerts, which Wilhelm Furtwängler refused to conduct would have.

Despite his tense relationship with the National Socialists, he occasionally took part in events close to the Nazis, such as two concerts to celebrate Hitler's birthday in 1943 and 1944. On January 30, 1943, Hitler awarded him the War Merit Cross, Second Class Without Swords . Knappertsbusch's situation during the Nazi era was thus similar to that of his fellow conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who was almost the same age: Deeply rooted in German culture and art, he could not and would not imagine emigrating. For artistic activity in National Socialist Germany, however, it was permanently impossible for a well-known conductor to evade confiscation by the regime; thus he felt compelled to cooperate. In the final phase of the Second World War, in August 1944 he was included in the list of the most important conductors who had been gifted by God , which Hitler had approved , which saved him from being deployed in the war, including on the home front .

After the Second World War

After the war he took over the post of general music director of the Bavarian State Opera again in 1945, but did not hold it for too long: Due to his professional activity during the Third Reich, the Americans imposed a professional ban on him in the autumn of 1945, which, however, in early 1947 - from this recognized as an error - was withdrawn with appropriate apologies. However, his successor as general music director in Munich was Georg Solti in 1946 . After his rehabilitation, Knappertsbusch did not take on a permanent position. From then on, the focus of his work was Munich, Vienna and, from 1951, Bayreuth. After the war he chose Bayreuth as his domicile, then Munich.

From 1947 to 1950 he also worked in the Theater an der Wien , the alternative location of the Vienna State Opera , and from November 1955 he directed performances again at the State Opera , which was reopened after the reconstruction. However, these were his last appearances in the Haus am Ring, the director Herbert von Karajan , who took up office in 1956, no longer engaged him. He continued the much-loved collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic from 1947, especially as a conductor of recordings and in orchestral concerts at the Theater an der Wien and at the Salzburg Festival.

Another focal point emerged in 1951: The new festival directors of Bayreuth, Wieland Wagner and Wolfgang Wagner , engaged him to reopen the Bayreuth Festival after the war. With the exception of 1953 he performed there every year until 1964 and conducted the Ring , the Flying Dutchman and the Meistersinger von Nürnberg , but above all Parsifal . He had his last appearance with Parsifal on August 13, 1964.

Hans Knappertsbusch died on October 25, 1965 in Munich of the long-term consequences of a fractured femur and was buried in the old Bogenhausen cemetery in Munich (grave wall left no. 53).

Artistic importance

Memorial plaque on the birthplace

Knappertsbusch became famous for his recordings of works by Ludwig van Beethoven , Anton Bruckner , Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss , which are of great inner calm and long, tense breath. Above all, however, he is regarded as one of the most important Wagner interpreters of the last century . Richard Wagner's works were very close to his heart, and in the post-war period he conducted at the Bayreuth Festival without a fee. He loved Parsifal most of all , of the 95 performances he performed in Bayreuth, this work was represented 55 times.

The artistic direction of the ideologically conservative Knappertsbusch was based on tradition, he could do little with innovations, modern staging of the post-war period, for example, was anathema to him. In his younger years, however, he was also quite open to contemporary works, even if they were no longer the focus of his interest with increasing age. During his time as Munich General Music Director, he was at the podium at the world premiere of seven operas: Don Gil from the green pants by Braunfels , Das Himmelskleid by Wolf-Ferrari , Samuel Pepys by Coates , The beloved voice of Weinberger , Lucedia by Giannini and Das Heart of Pfitzner .

Although the main focus of his work was on the countries of the German-speaking area, the conductor, who is also in great demand internationally, has made numerous guest appearances at opera houses all over Europe. In the course of his career his activities extended from Petersburg to Madrid, from Stockholm to Naples. After the war he was particularly active in Paris. However, he did not accept engagements outside Europe, and he also turned down an offer from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Knappertsbusch was reluctant and very economical to rehearse and preferred to rely on intuition during the performance. Although his gestures when conducting were mostly sparing, he succeeded in spurring the orchestra on to top performances thanks to his suggestive personality. Sometimes looks and facial expressions were enough for him to convey his will to the musicians. Since he loved the spontaneity of the moment in the reproduction of musical works, he was also not a great fan of studio recordings for the record industry, of which there are relatively few. However, numerous live recordings of his performances have been preserved.

personality

Knappertsbusch gave an unusual appearance for a conductor: His unpretentious, straightforward, also grumpy nature, combined with a certain imperator-like aura that he radiated, and his shyness, which he developed in old age, brought the man from the Bergisches Land in Munich and Vienna one too Unusual popularity beyond opera circles; he was given "the honor of being popular". Popularly he was simply called "the Kna".

As with many artistic personalities, ambivalent traits came together in Knappertsbusch. His character was determined by strength, idiosyncrasy and rugged robustness, which were contrasted with a high degree of sensitivity and easy annoyance. He was popular with the audience and orchestra because of his uncomplicated and comparatively modest nature. At the end of a performance, he first bowed to the orchestra, thus documenting that a significant part of the success can be attributed to it. He treated the musicians not as subordinates, but as employees. From the immediate post-war period, full of privation, it is known that he used substantial parts of his fees to support his musicians. It was only later that it became known that Knappertsbusch supported those persecuted during the Nazi regime.

On the other hand, he was also known and feared by some for his coarseness and his uncouth and resentful nature. The maestro's anger was at times easy to ignite, and quite ordinary verbal derailments were not uncommon. In particular, the singers were often treated with loud profanity when they made mistakes, even during the performance, such as B. the famous soprano Birgit Nilsson reported. His insults of the Nazi rulers are also notorious, although he did not experience any life-threatening problems only because of his prominent position.

Andreas Novak describes him aptly as the “rough humanist”.

Grave of Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965) at the Bogenhauser Friedhof in Munich

Private life

Knappertsbusch was married twice. In 1918 he married Ellen Selma Neuhaus from Elberfeld (1896–1987). This marriage resulted in a daughter, Anita (1919–1938), who died of a brain tumor at a young age. The marriage with Ellen was divorced in 1925. In 1926 he married Marion von Leipzig (1898–1984), with whom he was married until the end of his life.

Knappertsbusch cultivated friendships with the composers Hans Pfitzner , Erich Wolfgang Korngold , Richard Strauss and the conductor Leo Blech .

Awards

Music Mile Vienna

literature

References and comments

  1. ^ Alfred Einstein: The new music lexicon. Max Hesses Verlag, Berlin 1926, p. 336.
  2. ↑ This attack on Mann quickly acquired a political dimension in National Socialist Germany and therefore contributed to making Mann's emigration plans concrete.
  3. ^ Vaget: Chapter 13: Music in Munich: Context and prehistory of the “Protest of the Richard Wagner City of Munich” .
  4. ^ Prieberg: Handbook of German Musicians 1933–1945. 2004.
  5. ↑ Novak: Salzburg hears Hitler breathing. 2005, pp. 223-228.
  6. ↑ Furtwängler is known to avoid the Nazis' request to appear on Hitler's birthday by protecting against non-existent diseases - Knappertsbusch had to step in.
  7. ↑ Oliver Rathkolb : Loyal to the Führer and God-Grace. Artist elite in the Third Reich. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1991.
  8. ↑ The performance from 1962 was recorded and is considered a reference recording among connoisseurs.
  9. ^ In protest against Wieland Wagner's revolutionary staging style, he stayed away from the Bayreuth Festival in 1953.
  10. ↑ This was mainly due to his aversion to the Americans, who had banned him from working after World War II.
  11. ↑ Schreiber: Great conductors. 2005, p. 357.
  12. ↑ Dieter David Scholz: Myth Primadonna. Parthas, Berlin 1999, pp. 174-175.
  13. ↑ Novak: Salzburg hears Hitler breathing. 2005, p. 228.
  14. ↑ Taken mainly from the booklet to the CD collection In Memoriam Hans Knappertsbusch , TAHRA TAH 606-609, 2007, France

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Knappertsbusch, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Elberfeld
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1965
Place of death Munich