Real name: Felix Edler von Münzberg
Conductor, Pianist and Composer
1863 Zara /Dalmatien - 1942 Winterthur

Born in June 1863, Felix Weingartner must surely be the earliest major conductor whose recordings give an adequate representation of the classical repertoire in acceptable sound.

Orchestral recordings of those born before him are either sonically very restricted - Nikisch (1855) is here the obvious instance - or limited in the scope of repertoire captured. For example, the records of Kajanus (1856) are confined almost wholly to Sibelius; those issued of Karl Muck (1859) contain little other than Wagner; Max Fiedler (1859) recorded nothing but Brahms; and Franz Schalk (May 1863) a mere handful of works by Beethoven and Schubert.

Gaps there may be in Weingartner's recorded repertoire, in particular next to nothing of the Schubert and Schumann of which he was a renowned exponent in the concert hall. But in a studio career spanning thirty years he did record the complete cycles of Beethoven and Brahms symphonies and in addition a selection of works by Handel, Bach, Mozart, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Liszt and Wagner.
Yet today, although sometimes invoked as a measure of sanity and excellence in the interpretation of the classical repertoire, the records are little known save to collectors.

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Weingartner pictures

Weingartner biography