Artur Rodzinski

Artur Rodziński (Split, 1 January 1892 - Boston, 27 November 1958) was a Polish opera and orchestra conductor.

Rodziński was the son of a general of Polish-Jewish descent in the Austro-Hungarian army. His father was stationed in Split on the Dalmatian coast, then capital of the Austrian crown land of Dalmatia. Shortly after Artur's birth, the family moved to Lviv, the present-day Lviv. Here Artur spent most of his youth. After secondary school, he studied music in Lviv, after which he began studying law in Vienna. However, he also enrolled at the conservatory, where he studied orchestra conducting with Franz Schalk. Franz Schreker and Josef Marx were his composition teachers here, and Emil von Sauer and Jerzy Lalewicz were his piano teachers. Back in Lviv, he became conductor of the opera choir and in 1920 he made his debut here as a conductor with Ernani by Verdi. In Warsaw, he then conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Polish national opera. During a visit to Poland, Leopold Stokowski attended one of Rodziński's concerts, whereupon he invited the young conductor for a guest conducting position with his Philadelphia Orchestra.

Rodziński accepted the invitation and worked from 1925 to 1929 as Stokowski's assistant in Philadelphia. Here he led both symphonic concerts and opera performances.