Perfal, Karl von (composer)

Karl von Perfal was born into a rich and noble family (his father was the royal chamberlain), from childhood he studied music (was a pupil of Moritz Hauptmann). As a musician, he successfully debuted in 1849, but received a law degree. In 1851 he married. In 1852-1866 he was the conductor of the Munich Choral Society, in the first half of the 1850s he was engaged in writing songs, works for the choir, and in 1853 the premiere of his opera Sakuntala took place. In 1854 he founded the Munich Oratory Club, which he headed until 1864, and in 1855 became a chamberlain. From 1859 until the end of his life he was a member of the Munich Artistic Society. In 1867-1891 he taught at the Munich Academy of Music, then was her professor of honor.

From 1864, he was a Hofmusikintendant, from 1867 an quartermaster, and from 1872, General Quartermaster (chief director) of the Royal Bavarian Theater; resigned in 1892. Under his leadership, a total of 742 performances were staged. He was known for his personal dislike of Wagner, but did not interfere with the staging of his works in the theater and in 1881 even participated in the organization of the Wagner festival.

He wrote songs and Deutsche Märchen for solo, choir and orchestra. His famous operas include Das Konterfei (1863), Raimondin (1881), Junker Heinz (1886). He also owns theatrical works "25 Jahre münchener Hoftheater-Geschichte" (1892), "Die Entwickelung des modernen Theaters" (1899)

• Perfall, Karl (composer) // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• NDB article (German)
• An article in Nordisk Familjebok (German) .