Paur, Emil
Paur, Emil
Paur, Emil , Austrian conductor; b. Czernowitz, Bukovina, Aug. 29, 1855; d. Mistek, Bohemia, June 7, 1932. He was trained in the rudiments of music by his father, and played the violin and piano in public at the age of 8. At 11 he entered the Vienna Cons., where he studied violin with J. Hellmesberger Sr., and composition with Dessoff, graduating in 1870. He was 1st court conductor in Mannheim (1880–91), where he also led the sym. concerts, then conductor of the Leipzig Stadttheater (1891–93). He achieved an excellent reputation as a competent drillmaster, and in 1893 was engaged as conductor of the Boston Sym. Orch. to succeed Nikisch; he held this post for 5 seasons; from 1898 to 1902 he conducted the N.Y. Phil; during the season of 1899–1900, he led the Wagner repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y.; from 1899 to 1902 he served as director of the National Cons, in N.Y., succeeding Dvorak; from 1902 to 1904 he filled engagements in Europe; in 1904 he was again engaged in the U.S., as conductor of the Pittsburgh Sym. Orch. (until 1910). In 1912 he returned to Berlin, but failed to impress the fastidious concert audiences there; after a brief tenure as director of the Berlin Royal Opera (1912), he pursued a career as a guest conductor in Europe. He also composed, numbering a sym., In der Natur, a Violin Concerto, and chamber music among his works.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire