Julius Prüwer

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Julius Prüwer (20 February 1874 – 8 July 1943) was an Austrian conductor, pianist and teacher. Born in Vienna, he studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory from 1886 to 1891 with Arthur Friedheim and Moriz Rosenthal, and studied music theory with Robert Fuchs and Franz Krenn, with private lessons from Johannes Brahms.

Trained as a conductor by Hans Richter, Prüwer began his career at the Bielitz Municipal Theater (1892/93), the Esseg Municipal Theater (1893/94), and the Cologne Opera (1894/95). From 1895 to 1923 he was the main conductor at the Stadttheater Breslau, and from 1913 to 1923 he also directed the opera there. He conducted the German premiere of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov there, and in 1898 toured to St. Petersburg, where he helped arrange the Russian premiere of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. He assisted Hans Richter at the Bayreuth Festival in 1902, 1904 and 1906. In 1909 he published a music guide to Richard Strauss's Elektra.

In 1923/24 Prüwer was General Music Director at the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, and from 1924 to 1933 he was a full professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he trained future conductors and led the university orchestra. In 1925 the Berlin Philharmonic invited him to conduct their popular concerts, and he gave more than 700 performances there until 1933. In 1933 he lost his posts because of his Jewish origins. In 1936 he conducted the symphony orchestra of the Kulturbund Deutscher Juden in Frankfurt and taught at the Hollaender Jewish Private Music School in Berlin. In 1939 he emigrated to New York City, where he taught at the College of Music and conducted the New York City Symphony Orchestra. He was married to the opera singer Fanchette Verhunc. Prüwer died in New York City at the age of 69.

From 1928 to 1930 Prüwer made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. He accompanied well-known singers and the pianist Alexander Brailowsky in Chopin and Liszt concertos, and recorded orchestral works by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Johann Strauss II and others.