Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Germany in the early 20th century, starting as a musical assistant and progressing to increasingly senior conducting posts. In 1922, at the age of 34, he was appointed general music director of the Bavarian State Opera, holding that post for eleven years. In 1936 the Nazi régime dismissed him. As a freelance he was a frequent guest conductor in Vienna and Bayreuth, where his performances of Parsifal became celebrated. Studio recording did not suit Knappertsbusch, whose best-known recordings were made live during performances at Bayreuth. He died at the age of 77, following a bad fall the previous year. Life and career Early years Knappertsbusch was born in Elberfeld, today's Wuppertal, on 12 March 1888, the second son of a manufacturer, Gustav Knappertsbusch, and his wife Julie, née Wiegand. He played the violin as a child, and later the cornet. By the age of 12 he was conducting his high school orchestra. His parents did not approve of his aspirations to a musical career, and he was sent to study philosophy at Bonn University. From 1908 he also attended the Cologne Conservatory, where he studied conducting with the principal, Fritz Steinbach. He conducted at the Mülheim-Ruhr theatre from 1910 to 1912; more significant, according to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, were his summers as assistant to Siegfried Wagner and Hans Richter at Bayreuth. Elberfeld, Leipzig, Dessau and Munich Knappertsbusch began his career with a conducting post in Elberfeld. During the First World War he served in the German army as a non-combatant musician based in Berlin. In May 1918 he married Ellen Selma Neuhaus, who also came from Elberfeld. They had one child, Anita (1919–1938). After conducting in Leipzig (1918–1919), he succeeded in 1919 at Dessau, becoming Germany's youngest general music director. When Bruno Walter left Munich for New York in 1922, Knappertsbusch succeeded him as general music director of the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian State Opera. In 1925 Knappertsbusch and his wife divorced. The following year he married Marion von Leipzig (1888–1984); this marriage, which was childless, lasted for the rest of his life. Knappertsbusch remained in Munich for eleven years. He invited guest conductors such as Richard Strauss