Artur Rodziński (January 1, 1892 – November 27, 1958) was a Polish
conductor.
Biography
Rodziński was born of Polish parents in Spalato, Dalmatia, today's Split, Croatia.
He grew up in Lwów, Galicia, now part of
Ukraine, where he studied law at the University of
Lwów. In 1914, his father sent his family to Vienna, where Artur continued to study law,
as well as enrolling in the Universität für Musik und
darstellende Kunst Wien. In 1916, he received his doctorate in law. Asked how to say his name, he told The
Literary Digest it was rud-JEEN'-skee.[1]
After World War I ended in 1918, he moved to back to Lwów, then in Poland, where he found work as a conductor, making his debut conducting the opera Ernani. In 1920, he moved to the Grand Theater in
Warsaw.
![Artur Rodziński as featured on the cover of Time, 1947[2]](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/19/180px-TimeMagazineRodzinski.jpg)
Artur Rodziński as featured on the cover of
Time, 1947
[2]
He then moved to the United States, working as assistant conductor to Leopold Stokowski in Philadelphia from 1925 to 1929. His next move took him to California, where he conducted the Los Angeles
Philharmonic for four years. From 1933 to 1943, he was music director of the
Cleveland Orchestra. Under his leadership this formerly regional ensemble rose to
national prominence. During his tenure in Cleveland he also conducted a number of fully-staged opera productions with the
orchestra including Der Rosenkavalier with Lotte Lehmann and Shostakovich's Lady
Macbeth of Mtsensk.[3]
Rodziński then became music director of the New York Philharmonic, where he
remained until 1947. In New York Rodziński reached the peak of his career and fame. He made headlines by controversially
replacing many of the famed orchestra's leading players, but his performances were widely acclaimed.[4] With the Philharmonic Rodziński reached a national audience, his crisp, brilliant
style becoming familiar to audiences through his many records and weekly live broadcasts on CBS
Radio. Rodziński and the Philharmonic were also seen in the Hollywood film Carnegie Hall in 1947.[5] At the time of his resignation from his New York post Rodziński
was so prominent, having conducted three of America's most prestigious orchestras in succession, that he received significant
media coverage, including a Time magazine cover story.[2]
Rodziński was known for his ability to quickly rebuild and improve the quality of an orchestra in a short period of time.
Based on this reputation he was engaged in 1937 by David Sarnoff of RCA to recruit and assemble the famed NBC Symphony Orchestra for
Arturo Toscanini. Indeed it was Rodziński who conducted the NBC's very first broadcasts prior to Toscanini's debut with the
orchestra.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra engaged him as music director in 1947-48.
He recorded with the orchestra for RCA Victor and conducted an historic production of Tristan und Isolde with Kirsten Flagstad while in
Chicago. But sadly Rodziński's conflicts with the CSO's management and musicians caused him to resign after only one
season.[6]
During his remaining years Rodziński was a highly sought-after guest conductor. In London he made a large number of recordings
for both Westminster Records and EMI. Returning to opera, he conducted noted productions of Tristan in Florence with the
young Birgit Nilsson and again in Chicago with Flagstad, his final performance. Fraught
with ill health throughout his career, Rodziński succumbed to a heart attack and died in 1958 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Family
Rodziński was married twice and had two sons. He married the concert pianist Mme. Ilse in 1917 and they had a son, Witold.
Following a divorce he was married to Halina Wieniawski in 1934.[7] Their son Richard was artistic adminstrator at the Metropolitan
Opera in the 1970's and 1980's. In 1976 Halina Rodinski wrote an autobiography, Our Two Lives, which is still the
most extensive published account of Rodziński's life and career.
Recordings
Rodziński recorded for Columbia Records (with the Cleveland Orchestra and the New
York Philharmonic); RCA Victor (with the Chicago Symphony); Westminster Records (the Royal Philharmonic); and EMI. A few of his
later recordings were taped in stereo and have remained in circulation to this day. His complete recording of Tchaikovsky's
The Nutcracker for Westminster was recorded in stereo in 1955, but released on LP only in mono. The stereo version was originally released as a
2-track Reel-to-reel audio tape recording and then finally was made
available on compact disc.
References
- ^ Funk,
Charles Earle (1936). What's the Name, Please?. New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls. OCLC
1463642.
- ^ a b
- ^ Marsh, Robert C. (1967). The Cleveland Orchestra. World Publishing Company.
Library of Congress 67-22910.
- ^ Downes, Olin. “Rodzinski Comes to New York”, New York Times, January 3,
1943
- ^ "Carnegie Hall" film IMDB entry http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039244/
- ^ Chicago Symphony Website http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=7,3,1,4,4
- ^ Encyclopedia of Cleveland History http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=RA1
Bibliography
- Rodzinski, Halina (1976). Our Two Lives.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0684145111.
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