Eugen Szenkar

Eugen Szenkar (1891–1977) is a conductor originally from Budapest. He conducted Haydn's "Children's Symphony" for the first time when he was barely eight years old. His career led him via Prague and Salzburg to Dresden. In Saxony-Altenburg he became the youngest and last Kapellmeister of the Duke's Court Theater. He later worked as musical director in Frankfurt, Berlin and Cologne before National Socialism drove him out of Germany. The years of emigration were filled with guest performance tours that took him throughout Europe and as far as overseas. He conducted the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Moscow and, as founder of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, built up Brazil's musical life in ten years. In 1950 he returned to Germany, where he shaped an era as opera director in Mannheim, Cologne and Dusseldorf.