Busch, Fritz (1890-1951)

German conductor. Like his brother Adolf Busch, he renounced German citizenship, and left Germany for Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1933. He conducted the Glyndebourne Opera in England from 1934 to his death, giving the first performances there of Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and Macbeth, and the British premiere of Idomeneo.

He studied at the Cologne Conservatory and after working with various German theatres and orchestras, became conductor of the Stuttgart Opera in 1918 and music director of the Dresden Staatsoper in 1922. He conducted there the first performances of Strauss's Intermezzo (1924) and Die Ägyptische Helena (1928), Busoni's Doktor Faust (1925), and Hindemith's Cardillac (1926).