Kunwald, Ernst

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Kunwald, Ernst

Kunwald, Ernst, Austrian conductor; b. Vienna, April 14, 1868; d. there, Dec. 12, 1939. He studied law at the Univ. of Vienna (Dr.Juris, 1891), and at the same time studied piano with Leschetizky and J. Epstein and composition with H. Grädener. He also studied at the Leipzig Cons, with Jadassohn. He conducted opera in Rostock (1895–97), Sondershausen (1897–98), Essen (1898–1900), Halle (1900–01), Madrid (1901–02), and Frankfurt am Main (1902–05), and at Kroll’s Theater in Berlin (1905–06), and then served as 2nd conductor of the Berlin Phil. (1907–12). In 1906 he was guest conductor of the N.Y. Phil. In 1912 he became conductor of the Cincinnati Sym. Orch., and, from 1914, also of the May Festival. He was arrested as an enemy alien on Dec. 8, 1917, but was released on bail and allowed to continue to conduct until his internment. After his release, he conducted in Königsberg (1920–27). He then conducted the Berlin Sym. Orch. (1928–31).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire