Eugen Szenkar

Eugen Szenkar
Eugen Szenkar in 1939
Born
Szenkár Jenő

(1891-04-09)9 April 1891
Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died25 March 1977(1977-03-25) (aged 85)
Düsseldorf, West Germany
EducationFranz Liszt Academy of Music
Occupation
  • Conductor
Organizations

Eugen Szenkar (Hungarian: Szenkár Jenő; 9 April 1891 – 25 March 1977) was a Hungarian-born German-Brazilian conductor who made an international career in Austria, Germany, Russia, and Brazil. He promoted the stage works of Bela Bartók and other contemporary music at the Oper Frankfurt, the Cologne Opera, where he conducted the world premiere of The Miraculous Mandarin, and in Berlin. He conducted all of the symphonies by Gustav Mahler.

Szenkar escaped the Nazi regime in 1933 to Vienna, Paris, and Moscow, from where he was expelled in a Stalinist purge. He tried to build musical life in Rio de Janeiro from 1939 but returned to Germany after World War II. He remained faithful to his intentions for life, although he was often restricted as a Jew, a foreigner, a perceived leftist, and a non-conformist.[1] As he preferred live performances to recording, few sound documents of his work are extant.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Fischer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).