Eugen Szenkar

Eugen Szenkar (Hungarian: Szenkár Jenő; 9 April 189125 March 1977) was a Hungarian-born German-Brazilian conductor who made an international career in Austria, Germany, Russia, and Brazil. He promoted the stage works of Bela Bartók and other contemporary music at the Oper Frankfurt, the Cologne Opera, where he conducted the world premiere of The Miraculous Mandarin, and in Berlin. He conducted all of the symphonies by Gustav Mahler.

Szenkar escaped the Nazi regime in 1933 to Vienna, Paris, and Moscow, from where he was expelled in a Stalinist purge. He tried to build musical life in Rio de Janeiro from 1939 but returned to Germany after World War II. He remained faithful to his intentions for life, although he was often restricted as a Jew, a foreigner, a perceived leftist, and a non-conformist. and the German premieres of Bartók's Herzog Blaubarts Burg and Der holzgeschnitzte Prinz. He met Bartók there and became a pioneer of his works in Germany. and a performance of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer. In 1934, Szenkar accepted an invitation to Moscow, where he conducted the State Philharmonic Orchestra and was guest conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre. He also held a conductor class at the State Conservatory.