What is Karl Muck?
[[File:Karl Muck 1.jpg|right|thumb|Karl Muck]] '''Karl Muck''', (his first name is sometimes spelt '''Carl''', his surname rhymes with “book”) (born [[Darmstadt]], 22 October 1859; died [[Stuttgart]], 4 March 1940) was a [[Germany|German]] [[conducting|conductor]]. He was one of the greatest conductors of his day, especially famous for his conducting of [[opera]]s by [[Richard Wagner]]. == Early life == Karl Muck’s father was a [[Bavaria]]n [[politician]] and [[amateur]] musician. After his school years he studied music at the Conservatory in [[Würzburg]]. He also studied classical [[philology]] at the University of [[Heidelberg]]. In 1877 he continued his music studies in [[Leipzig]], learning the [[piano]] with [[Carl Reinecke]]. His first public performance was in 1880, the year in which he [[graduate]]d with a [[doctorate]], playing the piano in the Piano Concerto by [[Xaver Scharwenka]] at the [[Leipzig Gewandhaus]]. == Career == Soon he spent all his time conducting operas. He conducted in [[Zürich]], [[Salzburg]], [[Brno]] and [[Graz]], and got a conductor’s job in [[Prague]] and later in [[Berlin]]. He conducted the operas of Wagner’s [[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle]] with great success as well as many performances of ''[[Parsifal]]''. In 1912 he became the conductor of the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], and from 1922 until he retired in 1933 he conducted the [[Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra]]. Muck was one of the first conductors to be internationally famous for travelling about conducting orchestras in many parts of the world. He was a strict conductor who thought it was very important that the players should do exactly what the composer asks for in the [[sheet music|score]]. He was imprisoned in the [[United States]] during World War I, because of his support for Germany and because he refused to conduct the ''[[Star Spangled Banner]]''. After the war he was sent away and not allowed to return to America. After his death a [[town square|square]] in [[Hamburg]] was named after him,