Hans Knappertsbusch

Who was Hans Knappertsbusch?

Hans Knappertsbusch was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss.

Knappertsbusch was born in Elberfeld, today's Wuppertal. He studied philosophy at Bonn University and conducting at the Cologne Conservatory with Fritz Steinbach. For a few summers, he assisted Siegfried Wagner and Hans Richter at Bayreuth. He began his career with conducting jobs in Elberfeld, Leipzig and Dessau. When Bruno Walter left Munich for New York, Knappertsbusch succeeded him as General Music Director of the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian State Opera, with a lifelong contract. Knappertsbusch later refused to join the Nazi party.

In April 1933, Knappertsbusch, along with Richard Strauss and other prominent German musicians, organised the "Protest der Richard-Wagner-Stadt München" in reaction to Thomas Mann's implicitly anti-Nazi interpretation and appreciation of Wagner's works, which they viewed as denigrating and indecent. Knappertsbusch's efforts had the effect of forcing Mann out of Germany until the end of World War II.