Kabasta, Oswald

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Kabasta, Oswald

Kabasta, Oswald, prominent Austrian conductor; b. Mistelbach, Dec. 29, 1896; d. (suicide) Kufstein, Feb. 6, 1946. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music. After conducting in Wiener-Neustadt and Baden bei Wien, he was Generalmusikdirektor in Graz (1926–31). He became music director of the Vienna Radio (1931), and took its orch. on tours of Europe; concurrently taught conducting at the Vienna Academy of Music. He was also conductor of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and the Vienna Sym. Orch. (from 1935), and then Generalmusikdirektor of the Munich Phil. (1938–45). Having compromised himself by a close association with the Austrian Nazis, he committed suicide a few months after the conclusion of World War II. He championed the music of the late Austro-German Romantic school, becoming particularly known for his performances of the works of Bruckner.

Bibliography

E. Exl and M. Nagy, “…mögen sie meiner still gedenken:” Die Beiträge zum O. K.-Symposium in Mistelbach von 23. bis 25. September 1994 (Vienna, 1995).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire